A Reason To Stay
by ac135
Summary: I want out. Just two more years, and I can ditch the system that's put me in so many messed up foster homes. But for now, besides Jude's temper, I have to put up with a persistent bookworm, a teacher that is possibly not as stupid as he acts, and an enthusiastic boy with pink hair. The question is, will they become my reason to stay? AU
1. Chapter 1

**Finally ready to post! I hope you like this story.**

**For the best reading-experience, I'd strongly suggest listening to 'Rain' by Jon Heintz. A truly beautiful and touching song, which really fits in with this chapter.**

* * *

Rain slowly drizzles down the window I'm staring out of, blocking my vision. Blinking, I close my eyes and pay attention to the music blaring through my headphones. _Demons_ by Imagine Dragons, to be specific. I can't hear anything else, and that's exactly what I want.

I turn around, and collapse on my bed, kicking my blankets onto the floor. Sighing, I pull out my iPhone and dully shuffle through my games.

After I get bored of this, I stare at the walls of my room. No matter how many posters I hang up, or lights I add, it always remains dreary. But I guess you could say that I'm used to it, so it doesn't bother me like before.

The constant pounding of rain and fierce thunder bursts through my music, and I turn up the volume, wishing I could just fall asleep. Have you ever tried sleeping in a tent in the middle of a thunder storm? That's what I might as well be doing right now.

Something is running through my mind, like this ceaseless rain. They're dangerous thoughts, but I can't chase them out. They stick with me, like a ray of hope in my darkness. I tease these thoughts, pretending they could actually work. I chuckle at some of them, and grow serious at the others. After a while, I let out a sigh and shift onto my side, closing my eyes.

Time passes quickly while I'm asleep at last, and when I wake up groggily, I can faintly hear the sounds of two people arguing. A man and a woman. That's nothing new, but it still sends a chilling shiver down my spine. What are they fighting about now?

It might have to do with the paper I gave them earlier. I was feeling hungry a few minutes ago, but now my stomach is feeling queasy. Just listening to them argue is a good enough reason not to leave my room.

I realize that my music has stopped playing. Must have stopped while I was asleep. Reaching down to turn it back on, I freeze when I hear a loud knock.

With a slam, my bedroom door is pushed open, probably breaking off one of the hinges. I can literally feel the hairs on my arms tingling, and the blood inside of me has turned cold.

My heart is pounding. As though in slow motion, staring at my doom, I turn on my music at the last second.

* * *

Sirens bast through the night air, and a parade of police cars and an ambulance make their way through the traffic, honking loudly in their hurry to get to their destination in time.

A man and woman are standing at the doorway, with their hands cuffed behind their backs. The woman screams hysterically, clearly drunk, while the man growls in frustration at the officers. They're dragged to the cars, while men carry a stretcher into the ambulance.

With paramedics working hurriedly on the patient, they speed to the hospital.

* * *

My arm is twitching, and the doctor says that even after it's out of the cast, it might still cause problems. Every day in this white hospital room passes by in a blur, just like everything else. I can't even remember what happened when that man came into my room, but I was handed a file, where it says that I was found unconscious on the floor, with my arm twisted in a weird way, and other broken bones, as well as bruises on my throat.

Does any of this really matter? I couldn't care less what position I was in, or that my tormentors were imprisoned. It never ends, I know that better than most people. Sure, you can say that 'there's a rainbow after the storm', but I've been through more storms than I can count, and never once have I seen a rainbow, so to speak.

My neck is still sore, despite the painkiller I was given, and I shift more comfortably on the pillows. Some doctor this guy is, can't even cure a sore throat. Literally. Rolling my eyes, I reach over to where my iPhone was returned by a nurse this morning.

Jamming the plug into the device, I shove my headphones over my mess of blonde hair, and close my eyes, letting out a sigh. This thing has been with me for the last three foster homes, acting as my only companion. The judge gave it to me as a sort of apology, I guess. "Sorry you had to be born into such a rotten world," I mumble to myself, giving a hoarse laugh. "I hope this thing makes your life so much better."

It didn't, I should have sent it back.

With a leg and an arm stuck in casts, I'm faced with the dim prospect of either staying in the hospital for a while, or rolling around in a wheelchair. Personally I prefer the first, because unless my next 'caretaker' is a total retard, they won't try beating me up while I'm _literally_ in a hospital.

The room I'm in is actually kind of refreshing. White walls, white sheets, white everything, and then on the bedside table, a splash of color in the form of blue and pink flowers. I can't believe such a place like this exists, actually. Opposite of the people I grew up around, these adults devote their time to healing people, even me. It's not dreary, but almost what you would call cheerful. And I can't even decide wether or not I like it.

One of the nurses is walking over to me. I close my eyes, pretending to be asleep, but unfortunately I feel her shake me gently, trying to 'wake me up'. Giving a real groan, I push her hand away with my good hand. She smiles at me, and rubs my hair. "Good morning, Lucy. How are you feeling?"

Flinching at her touch, I give a lazy shrug. "What do you think?"

I can see the pity in her eyes, and it bugs me.

"Sweetie, are you hungry? I'll get someone to bring you some food, okay? Is there anything in particular you'd like?"

I turn my head away. I don't know why, but I feel like she's treating me like a little kid. I can't see her now, but I hear her little 'click' that she makes with her tongue, out of pity. That's the most annoying sound in the world, you know? Hearing someone make a noise like that, as though they're so much better, and you're just some stupid kid who deserves pity.

Eyes narrowed, I glare daggers at the wall. She must have noticed, because she's gone now, thankfully. Still angry, I spit at the floor. What gives her the right to use that tone of voice with me? If I was talking to a three year old, _that's _the voice I would use. Not to a fricken sixteen year old.

A few minutes later a nurse came back, carrying a tray of food. Wether I like it or not, I'm starving. Practically yanking the tray out of her hands, I eagerly set about devouring everything. She's watching me I think, and she probably thinks I haven't eaten in a week, which isn't too far from the truth. A few seconds later, and I'm staring at an empty plate.

"Are you still hungry, honey? Because I can get you some more food, if you are."

There's that annoying child-tone again. Despite the fact that I'm still starving, I don't respond, out of spite. Shaking her head, the nurse took the tray back and walked out of the room, leaving me in solitude again.

* * *

"Lucy, this is Jude Heartfilia."

I stare blankly at the tall man in front of me. He's smiling at me, flashing a set of white pearls. Rolling my eyes, I turn my head and stare at the passing cars. We're standing in front of a large house the size of a mansion, where my social worker took me after being released from the hospital. Even though I grudgingly asked to stay in the hospital, I was discharged by the doctor, who said that I could manage fine on crutches.

"It's a pleasure to meet you at last, Lucy. You can call me Jude, or Mr. Heartfilia-whatever you're comfortable with."

"How about I call you an imbecile?" I mutter under my breath, giving an exaggerated sigh. My social worker gives me a disapproving look, and I sigh. "Yeah, nice to meet you too, I'm sure." There's no doubt in my mind, however, that this man that reeks of money is no different from the rest.

Still smiling, Mr. Money-bag gestures to the house. "Shall I give you a tour?"

My social worker is waving goodbye, and handing me a card. "Lucy, you don't need to worry about him. We've checked his background, inspected his house, and held countless interviews. He's a very generous man, who just recently lost his wife. And I'm warning you, don't try anything funny, okay?" with that said, she walks over to her car and within seconds is driving away.

I glance at the card she gave me-it's a phone number. What's the point, if she says we can trust this guy? Scoffing, I shove the card into my pocket, and follow Jude into the mansion.

"As you can see, I've invested a lot of time and effort into making sure you live comfortably in my house."

We're standing in a large bedroom, so pink and girly that I literally gag. Jude raises an eyebrow at me, and I give him a 'what's wrong?' look, so he shakes his head and continues with the tour.

After about an hour of listening to the guy talk about absolutely nothing, I finally hear something interesting.

"Once you're comfortable, I've registered you for a wonderful school," Jude says, beaming at me. "It's known for adjusting teaching methods according to the student, which means that no matter where you are in your studies, you'll catch up in no time."

Great. For the first time in years, I'm gonna have to attend a stinking school. And high school, no less. "Gee, thanks for asking me." I grumble sarcastically.

His eyes seem to flash for a second, but it's gone before I can be sure. Instead he turns, and beckons for me to follow him. "You must be tired, right? Why don't we take a break. You can explore the house on your own, or just get used to your room. Okay? I'll see you later then, Lucy."

Finally that irksome smile has disappeared, along with Jude himself. Relieved, I let out a weary sigh and drag myself to my new room.

Plopping onto the massive bed, I have to admit that it's definitely a plus for moving here. I don't think I've ever even _seen_ a bed this big, much less slept in one. Dropping my crutches on the floor next to the bed, I sprawl out on the cushy blankets and promptly fall asleep.

* * *

It's currently eight thirty, and I'm _not_ in a good mood. I've been in this house for over a month, and still can't get used to things. It's almost like… Life is too easy. Jude still gives me that fake smile no matter what I say, there's plenty of food whenever I'm hungry, and there are fricken maids! Who in this age has maids? It's ridiculous, and I don't plan on taking part of it. I do everything on my own, have since I was born. I have to be really abrupt with those dopes, so they'll finally learn to leave me alone.

But despite all that crap, it's not the real reason I'm grumpy. It's the first day of school today, actually. I can't believe I'm being forced to go, but I have no choice. That doesn't mean I can't be really, _really_ mad at Jude, though.

Now I'm trying to make myself presentable. It was laid out _very_ clearly for me when Jude was telling me last night what was going on. I'm to look neat and orderly, which means no torn jeans, no gothic makeup, no spikes, skulls, or basically anything else that literally nobody wears anymore. But he's sheltered inside of a mansion, so it's not surprising he doesn't know anything about teens these days.

I yank a tank top off of it's hanger, glancing at my closet. 90% of it is full of clothes that the maids bought for me, and 10% are my own clothes, bought through the years.

I've already looked through the clothes given to me, and half of them should be tossed into the trash for violating the rights of everyone else who would see them.

A pair of black skinny jeans, a blue tank top, and a gray long-sleeved shirt. That covers up all of the scars, except for the ones on my face and neck, but those are easily explained. As I stare at the mirror, I study my hair. Blonde hair that reaches past my shoulders, framing my still-thin face. I decide against pigtails, and instead I braid it to the side.

With that done, I roll up my sleeves to my elbows, put on a pair of neon blue headphones and my look is complete.

Stumbling down the stairs with a bit of difficulty since my leg is still a little shaky, I silently sneak out of the house before Jude wakes up and finds something wrong with my outfit.

Outside, I'm barely surprised to see a limo parked in the street, with a man holding the door open. As I stalk right past them, I mutter, "Get a life." at the man. A maid runs up to me hurriedly. "Miss Lucy, you have a limousine to ride to school in!" she calls, panting as I walk faster and faster. Over my shoulder, I give her the fiercest glare possible, one that spat in her face 'I-would-rather-die'. Getting the message, she runs back and sends the limo away.

Like heck I'm gonna show up in a limo! I've already looked up the directions to the school, and it turns out that it's only a few minutes away. I roll my eyes. Rich people…

As I near the school, I can see a big sign at the entrance, probably the name of the school, 'Fairy Tail'. What kind of name is that? Do they even know that they spelled 'tail' wrong? Sighing, I pull out my headphones and turn up my music.

I don't know where I'm going. It's kind of like my life's analogy, I think. I don't know where I'm going, but I know I'm gonna hate it once I get there.

Other teens are walking past me, clinging to their friends that they're _so_ fortunate to have. I check my schedule, just to make sure I don't waste more of my time wandering around. I have a 'Mr. Gildarts' apparently, as my homeroom teacher. What's a homeroom teacher? Whatever, I'll probably find out later.

Down the hallway, it looks like I'm late for class. Only a few people are still around, dashing for their classes. Taking this as a warning, I give a little sprint for the door I know is my classroom.

The door is wide open and I can see at least thirty students inside. Sitting at their desks, or ontop, while chattering with one another. At the last second I shut off my music, and jog into class.

A man is standing in front of the black board, and it looks like he's joking around with one of the students. He's got red-gold hair, and kind eyes. But from my experience, those eyes could change in a split second.

He doesn't notice me, so I limp towards him and cough sarcastically. I've been told that I'm inept at socializing, but honestly I don't see anything wrong with giving a bit of attitude. Better than blindly obeying everything like a prissy little girl, right?

I'm forced to stand there with an impatient face, as this' Gildarts' stares at me for, I kid you not, five-fricken-minutes, until he somehow recognizes me. I know this because his face turns into one of the biggest grins I've ever seen.

"Ohhh, it's Lucky!"

"Lucy."

"I heard about you from the principal! It's already ten after, you know."

"Big deal. It's not like you've started class yet or anything."

He raises an eyebrow at me comically, and I wonder for a moment if he'll get mad, but he just chuckles. After the stress of living with Jude for so long, it's a good change to be around someone easy going.

"Better late than never, right Natsu?" he jabs his thumb at a pink-haired guy standing in front of him, the one he was joking with earlier. "This moron is Natsu. He's always late, so he knows what I mean."

The guy who is apparently called Natsu grins widely at me. "Yeah, one time I didn't show up for class," he paused, then added, "for a perfectly good reason! And the next day, this old man made me stay late for the next week! Just so that he wouldn't have to grade homework, either." turning to face Gildarts, he cracks a smirk. "Would you get in trouble if Gramps found out you let a student grade papers?"

Gildarts suddenly glares at Natsu. "The only one who would get in trouble is you, if they found out that you tried changing your grade!"

"Are you serious? That 'A' was ligitim… It was real, I'm telling you!"

"Ahaha, says the person who can't even say the right word!"

Sighing, I ignore the two arguing idiots, and glance at the class. I begin to notice that none of them are even reacting to what's-his-face and the teacher, even though they're screaming loud enough to make a normal person wince. The other students are going about their business like I noted before, without a glance at the two up front. Sighing, I shift my backpack to the other shoulder and shuffle through the rows, until I find an empty seat in the back. Luckily this school doesn't do 'double-desks' or whatever it's called, so I won't be forced to interact with a partner.

Shifting my gaze to the scene at the front of class being performed by two equally stupid humans, I turn my music back on and lay my head on my desk.

Something touching my shoulder causes my body to freeze, and I groggily open my eyes to blink slowly at a girl, who is staring at me with wide eyes. "Hey, Lucy!" she says rather loudly, still shaking me. When she sees that I've opened my eyes, she smiles in relief. "I thought you were unconscious! I've been trying to wake you up for at least five minutes," she laughs. "It's already lunch time-you slept through all of the first period."

And I wish I hadn't. All I gained from those few hours of sleep were more terrifying images to remain imprinted in my mind forever.

Sitting up, I study the girl in front of me, as well as who I'm guessing are her friends, who are also staring back at me. The girl who woke me up has shocking blue hair, almost as surprising as the boy with pink hair. Her friends' hair look pretty normal, except for a girl with white hair. Should I have dyed my hair green just to fit in?

The blue haired one offers her hand, which I ignore. She's smiling at me, though. "My name is Levy. Sorry for calling your name without introducing myself earlier, by the way."

Oh yeah, how did she known my name? Immediate distrust builds up in me, but she notices and laughs sheepishly. "Don't worry, I just read your introductory sheet there. This is your first day here, right? It's pretty surprising to get a new student in the middle of the semester-I hope you like it here!"

I don't have the patience to make small talk with this girl. Standing up abruptly, I hoist my backpack onto my shoulder and walk away. But before I'm gone, I glance over my shoulder. "Thanks for waking me up, I guess."

Levy giggles as I walk away.

* * *

Fairy Tail High's lunch room is apparently well-named. Literally just a large room full of chairs and tables, where students bring their lunches at noon. Is there no cafeteria? Why is this school so different from what I've heard about?

Well it's not like I have anyone to sit with anyways, so I choose a secluded table in the corner to sit at. My lunch consists of a few random fruits that I grabbed from the kitchen, and a sandwich. I would have let one of the maids pack me a lunch, but they'd probably do something so extravagant and stupid that I'd just be embarrassed. So I'm sitting by myself, staring at the blank wall.

Time passes slowly when you're bored. I know this from many years of experience, but I still l haven't found a way to fix that. It's not like I have anything to think about, to pass the time. So instead, I let my mind run free. If I hear a bell, I might drag it back.

"Woah, chick at nine o' clock!" this comment, followed by a whistle, pulls me out of my nap. Blinking slowly, I rub my cheek, which is now red from being pressed against the table. The one who spoke is a boy. I can't even think of a way to fully describe him. All I can say is that he looks like a complete hooker, a lady's man.

He has orange hair, and is wearing sunglasses. Looking at me with those filthy eyes? Needless to say, I'm disturbed. Closing my eyes again, I lay back down on the table.

"Hey hey, pretty lady, no need to be shy!" I get the feeling the pervert is walking towards me, but then someone else intervenes. "Loke, dude, can't you see she's not interested? You gotta learn to lay off, man."

Said person gave a laugh, and walked away with his friends. Relieved, I slowly drift off into a short cat-nap.

For the rest of the day, I'm trapped inside the building, sleeping whenever possible. This is the worst kind of torture I've ever experienced, but the nagging fear of Jude is still keeping me from running away. He _did_ look really serious when he was telling me what he expected. Unfortunately for the old geezer, not a lot of people have any expectations from me, and I don't live up to the ones who do. So if he's expecting top class grades, sucks for him.

"Lucy, right?" I hear my name, and blink in surprise. How could I not have seen the teacher-person right in front of me? "What?" I ask dully.

"Class is over, kid. Do you need to stay for some reason?"

Now that this Gildarts mentions it, I don't really want to go back to that mansion. However, school is almost as bad. Getting up, I hoist my backpack over my shoulder, and plug in my headphones per-usual. Walking past the teacher, I turn up the volume and leave the room before he can say anything.

* * *

"So, Lucy, how was your first day of school?"

That unbearable smile, and sickening voice. Yup, that's Jude. Rolling my eyes, I kick off my sneakers. "Why does it matter? It was probably the most boring day of my life, if it matters that much."

I'm about to go up to my room, but Jude stops me with a harsh look. "What?" I snap.

What is with him? Is he gonna turn out like all the rest?

"Shoes are never left in the front hall. Bring them up to your room."

I still feel uneasy… Like, that's not what he was actually thinking? Frowning, I wait until he's gone before going back down to grab my shoes.

In my room, I drop my backpack on my bed, and collapse next to it. Much against my will, I accidentally learned a few things in school today. And although not as bad, they gave me homework. It's always been the most hated by high school students, but I've never minded it much. Probably because I never do it.

"Miss Lucy, dinner will be ready in a few minutes."

I hate this place. This stupid mansion and everyone living in it. I can't wait to get out of this system, that's for sure. Once I turn eighteen, I'm gonna hit the roads and make my own living.

"Would you like help getting ready?"

But first I have to deal with this crap for another two years. Two years, Lucy, you can do it. Deal with this, and the rest is a piece of cake.

As usual, dinner is elegant, and I couldn't care less. Of course the old man clearly doesn't like it, but every night I show up in my casual clothes. Why does he even care? I eat by myself. What, he fosters a kid and can't even sit down at the same table? Speaking of which, I still haven't figured out what his motives are. I mean, he obviously doesn't like me despite his pitiful efforts to hide it. He's rich! And in his eyes, I'm literally the dirt beneath his feet.

Whatever. As long as I'm out of here soon, it doesn't matter. Getting up, I leave my dishes for the maids and take a walk outside. I have to admit, it's pretty cool here. There are lots of gardens, which I'd only heard about before coming here. One of my favorites is the one _way_ far out on the estate, which is ginormous by the way.

My one solace in this entire messed up place.

* * *

**Thanks for reading.**


	2. Chapter 2

**And I present to you.. Chapter 2! Check it out, I hope you like it! :D**

* * *

"Oi, why isn't your homework done?"

"My maid threw it away." I snap back, and I'm hardly even lying. I put the stupid paper on the counter before dinner, and some idiot decided it was okay to touch it without asking. I stopped her from throwing it away, then tossed it out myself.

Gildarts looks kind of pissed, well as much as is possible for him, and I sigh exaggeratedly. "Geez, I'll do the homework, just stop nagging me about it!"

He doesn't respond, just goes back to grading papers or something. I can tell he's ignoring me on purpose, so there's no point trying to talk. Turning around, I stalk to my seat.

"Lucy, are you going to take a nap again?"

Glancing up from my iPhone, I recognize that blue-haired girl. "What's your name? Love? Lav?"

"It's Levy…"

"Yeah, sure. What were you saying?"

"I thought I should tell you… it's probably in your best interest to stay out of trouble."

Raising an eyebrow, I look up from my phone. "Are you trying to say I'm causing trouble?"

Smiling, Levy gave a shrug that must look adorable to everyone around her. Definitely not to me. "Maybe, maybe not. But either way, you've caught Mr. Gildart's attention, even if it doesn't seem like it."

"Yeah? And is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Depends on what you make of it," she says, still smiling.

"Could you be any less ambiguous? What's he do, geez!" I grumble, starting to get a little nervous.

She hesitates, then points towards a group of boys who are chatting loudly in the back of the room. "They used to be the class troublemakers, until Mr. Gildarts became our homeroom teacher. Don't ask me how, but he changed them for the better. Turns out they're all good kids, who just needed a little bit of guidance."

I laugh grimly, still pretending to be doing something on my phone. "Sugar spice and everything nice, am I right? Well that doesn't explain why _I _should worry."

Sighing, Levy turned to the front of the class. "You're not exactly class rep, Lucy. Now like I said, I don't know for sure what he does, but Lisanna said that her friend said that her friend said that one of the boys said that Gildarts said that he knows everything about them. Do you want him knowing all of your secrets?"

I can tell she's acting mischievous on purpose, with a tiny smile on her lips. Shrugging it off, I turn back to my phone. "Thanks for your advice."

* * *

"Who do you think you're smiling at?" I glare half-heartedly at my companion, a beautiful lady made of marble. Don't ask me why I'm talking to a statue...

"Well, at least one of us can smile, anyways." I don't know why I always come back, but for some reason I feel peaceful in this tucked away garden that holds a beautiful treasure. "And what kind of person makes a statue of their wife?" I grumble, staring at the familiar golden plate that has the lady's name engraved upon it.

Layla Heartfilia. Somehow I can't imagine a person as kind-looking as her matching up with Jude. Which reminds me of why I came here, actually.

The old geezer literally went psycho when he found out I haven't been doing any homework for the past three weeks. I mean seriously? What's it matter to him? School's for people who wanna go to college, and get a fancy job, neither of which I plan on accomplishing. Not that he'll be around by then anyways, so why does he care so much?

Sighing, I force myself to head back to the mansion. Life sucks, I already knew that. Nothing is gonna change, even if I hide in this little garden. Kicking at pebbles that sit in my path, I run my fingers through my hair and let out a frustrated groan.

"Miss Lucy, Mr. Heartfilia would like to see you in his office!"

* * *

"Lucy, I'd like to apologize."

Unresponsive, I cross my arms and lean against the door, eyes narrowed.

"Earlier, I did something unnecessarily harsh, and it is something I truly regret. Will you forgive me for yelling at you?"

Giving a scoff, I push against the door and slowly walk over to him. "Do you want to know just how little I think of you?"

He shifts his gaze as I continue.

"You, old man, don't even make it onto the list of people I'd like to kill. And trust me-it's a long list. So why should I waste my time forgiving _you_?"

I hurry out before he can say anything, making sure I have the last word.

* * *

I'm walking to class in my usual attire, plus my headphones. Nobody talks to me, and I ignore them all in return. As I near the classroom, I catch sight of a boy. What was his name, Natsu? He hangs out with a bunch of boys, who all flock to Gildarts like fleas. I don't understand for the life of me what's so great about the guy, but I'm not in the mood to think about more possible problems.

"Hey, you're that chick from the lunch room!" I turn around with a death glare, freezing when it's that pervert from before, with the orange hair.

Luckily for him, another kid steps in. If not, I probably would have punched him. The boy has dark hair, and I can tell he's annoyed. "Man, how many times do we gotta tell you? You can't just hit on every girl you see! Besides, what are you going to tell your girlfriend?"

Sighing, I'm about to leave, when suddenly I'm blocked by that kid, Natsu. He's grinning, and sticks out his hand. "Hey, I've seen you! You're in Gildart's class!" I ignore his hand, but unfortunately another boy interrupts, the one with dark hair. "You're Lucy, right?" He sighs and glances at the boy with orange hair, who's trying to wink at me through his sunglasses. "Sorry about this idiot, he has a bad habit."

I raise an eyebrow. "Yeah, I can see that." Turning my music back on, I walk away. What a bunch of idiots…

During class I pay attention for the first time ever. It's not like I have a choice, even though I really don't want to. My head is telling me that Jude wouldn't hurt me, but my heart is telling me not to get on his bad side any more than I already have. And my experience tells me that it's usually best to follow your heart over your head.

"So I guess that we're gonna have to show your parents you've done at least something this year, right?" Gildarts winks at the other teens, who laugh. I can't believe him…

"You should've bought a book at the beginning of the year, full of poems, right? It's time to put it to use, if only for the sake of not wasting your money."

A mix of chuckles and groans were heard as every student reached down to shuffle through their backpacks. As for myself, I haven't even seen such a book. And poetry? I mean come on, who listens to that crap anymore? Sighing, I settle back for a long, boring hour.

* * *

Later, back at the mansion, I once again eat dinner alone. My backpack is still slumped in the corner from where I tossed it, now that the maids know not to touch my personal stuff.

I'm lifting the fork to my mouth, when all of a sudden my wrist gives a little spasm, causing the fork to clatter against my plate. Surprised, I lower my gaze and stare at my wrist.

Apparently my wrist is shy, and it doesn't happen again. "… Well that was weird." With mild interest, I continue eating. As usual, food is first on my mind.

After dinner I grab my backpack and dash up the stairs. As I'm walking down the hall though, I pass by Jude's office, where I know he is. Staring at it for a few seconds, I reach down and grab the doorknob. Thinking twice, I knock first.

"Who is it?" comes a voice, obviously annoyed.

"Lucy."

"What do you want?"

"To come in. That's why I knocked." Moron.

"You may enter." he says after a second, and I do so. Thank you _so_ much, your _majesty_.

Jude is sitting at his desk, in front of a large stack of papers. He doesn't even glance up when I walk in, and I cough to get his attention.

"What did you want, Lucy?" he looks up.

"The only reason I'm here is because my arm is acting weird. It was like 'tzzz', and had a seizure."

He rubs his forehead, not amused by my sound effects. After a moment, he speaks. "Do I look like a doctor?"

I raise an eyebrow, done messing around. "Believe it or not, as my guardian, you're required to take care of my medical needs. And I think that something's wrong!"

"For heaven's sake, we have maids for these kinds of things! Just because I'm your guardian doesn't mean you need to come to me for every single problem. Grow up!"

Glaring, I slam my hand in his desk. "This could be serious! Do you want to answer when I turn you in for neglect? That's a pretty serious crime considering you're my legal guardian. And when I think about it, that wouldn't look so good to your many customers, right?"

His eyes harden, and I almost regret threatening him. "Child neglect? That should be the least of your worries."

"Is that a threat?" I question, reaching into my pocket.

"A threat? Do you really think I'd stoop to such low levels?"

I give him a lazy look. "You're much lower than that, trust me."

Jude smirks, and proceeds to rustle through a stack of papers. Pulling out a file, he flips through it. "You're going to make a fuss about your arm having a little 'seizure', when you're living in a mansion. You're not being abused here, you're not starving, you're not living in a closet, you're not working for your own necessities, and you're not clothed in too-small hand me downs. The list goes on. Now, these are all things you endured previously. Are you saying you want to get thrown into one of those homes again?"

Trying not to let my face show anything, I shrug. "My goal is not to pick and choose which house I go to next. What I do is make sure I'm out after a few months. Your times up, and I'm _going_ to get out of here."

* * *

In my room, I let out a sigh. And to think.. the reason I went in there was something completely innocent. Humming a melody, I pull out my phone and play the recording.

Once it's finished, I smile. If I ever have to put my word against his, this should prove at least as evidence that he's not as perfect as he made it seem to everyone. However, it's not like I'm in any hurry to get to the hospital, so I'm gonna try not to tick him off. This is for _if_ he goes at me, and I need to prove it.

As I lay in my bed, my mind does a little wandering, and I let it roam free, thinking about completely random things-anything except for what was just discussed with Jude.

School's going fine, I guess. I mean it's not like I'm really doing my homework, but at least I'm thinking about it. That's gotta count for something, right? It's not like I have to anyways. Speaking of which, didn't Levy say that Gildarts would notice me if I didn't shape up? Chuckling, I close my eyes. That'd be something. If someone noticed me for once, I mean.

And besides him, there was that kid, Natsu. He remembered my name, at least. And honestly? I'm shocked that I even remember his.

* * *

"Hey Lucy, are you gonna eat by yourself again?"

Rolling my eyes, I hoist my bag over my shoulder and stare at Levy, who had come up to me after class. "What's it to ya?"

Smiling gently, Levy shrugs. "I thought you might be lonely. Wanna eat with me and my friends?"

Chuckling grimly, I walk past her. "That's sweet of you, but I've got other plans."

"Oh come on, what 'other plans' could you have? You eat at the same table every day."

"Dude, that's kinda creepy." I mumble, but unconsciously let my gaze soften. Shaking my head, I leave without responding. I hear her calling my name, but ignore her.

In the lunchroom, I stare at my sandwich for a good ten minutes before finally tossing it back into the paper bag. Shoving it into my backpack, I let out a sigh. I can see Levy from here, sitting with her friends and laughing at something.

I was right to turn down her offer, because even if I wanted to, _which I don't_, I couldn't fit in. All her friends are girls, so what would a person like me talk about? My hair? Who I like? Yeah, because that always worked out _so_ well with my old friends. While they talked about their latest crushes, I was trying to survive another day without _being_ crushed. Smiling grimly at the irony, I glance back at Levy and her friends.

A bunch of girls from Gildart's class are with her, with huge smiles on their faces. Ugh. Why am I even bothering myself with thinking about them? Especially Levy. She doesn't seem to have a problem in the world.

She glances in my direction, and gives a little wave. Nonplussed, I quickly turn around, and start fiddling with the strings of my hoody. Sighing, I sneak a glance back at her. Ever since I came to this school, I've been having weird thoughts.

Finally after the dragged out hour of lunch is over, I follow the crowd that disperses to their classes. I fall behind when I stop to use the bathroom, and when I come out the hallway is empty. Well, aside from the group of boys who are hanging out in front of the classroom as usual. I see Natsu, and recognize two of his friends, Gray and.. Actually I don't remember the playboy's name.

I have to walk through the gang to get to the door, so I stand in front of them and cough loudly. They're laughing at something, and don't notice. Sighing, I recognize Natsu, and tap him on the shoulder.

He turns around, and I see his face lighten up with recognition. "You and your gang are literally _right_ in front of the door. Can't you think of a better place to hang out?" I grudgingly ask.

Grinning, he scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, sorry." he nudges some of his friends out of the way, and I nod uncomfortably. "Thanks." I mumble, walking through the path they cleared.

Taking my seat, I pass by Levy, who's talking with that white-haired girl. She smiles at me, causing me to turn my head away.

I'm sitting down and beginning to settle in for the rest of class, when suddenly I notice a looming presence. Raising my eyes, I glower at Gildarts.

"What do you want, old man?"

He gives me a stare that bores right into me, and I sigh. "Seriously, what?"

"You've turned in two pages' worth of homework, yet you've been here for over a month. I don't ask a lot from my students, but what I _do_ expect is a little more effort. So why aren't you doing your homework?"

Not meeting his eyes, I shrug. "No reason."

He raises an eyebrow. "Everything is done for a reason. Are you having trouble with the questions?"

Rolling my eyes, I stick out my jaw defiantly and refuse to answer. This results in him giving a smirk.

"Alright, you don't have to answer-that's fine. In fact, that's more than fine."

Uncomfortable, I glance up at him. "What are you talking about, creep?"

He laughs, and walks away. "What, you wanna talk now? You lost your chance, kid."

Resting my elbows on my desk, I clasp my hands. Isn't this what Levy warned me about? Too bad I didn't really listen, otherwise I'd remember what she said. Something about him, and troublesome kids, and… well whatever it was, if I'm _actually_ causing problems, I'll figure out soon enough.

But I know better than to think that someone might actually pay attention to me.

Class starts as usual, with Gildarts cracking jokes, yet somehow managing to fit in lectures that stay in your head. Well at least he's not some boring old professor, that's for sure. I mean, if I had to sit through boring lectures eight hours a day, I wouldn't have had second thoughts about running away.

* * *

The warm Summer breeze is turning chilly, as seasons change. Fall will come along soon, against my wishes. For now, I'm making the most of the warmth, and exploring town. It's my first time out since before moving into _his_ place, surprisingly enough.

I vaguely remember a time when I would spend all my time in town, doing what normal teenagers do. I'd do odd jobs over the weekend, then use my savings over the week. I didn't have much, having to buy my own food and clothes, different necessities, but that didn't stop me from enjoying my self. Eh… eventually those foster parents were charged with child neglect, and I was forced into another home.

Pausing in the sidewalk for a moment, I look around me, taking in all of the vaguely familiar smell of restaurants and fresh air, mixing together to create a tantalizing fragrance. With a smile threatening to break my composure, I decide to head back home. Too much exposure to all of these memories just might break me down.

On my way home, I catch sight of a certain girl with wavy blue hair a few feet away, walking out of the biggest library in Magnolia. That's what this city is called, by the way.

I don't think she's caught sight of me yet, but I'd rather not take the risk. Who _knows_ what kind of chatter she'd start! Puling up the hood of my jacket, I try to blend in with the crowd.

"Lucy! Hey, Lucy!"

Crap. There's no where for me to run, I can hear her a few feet behind me. Turning around, I let out a dejected sigh. "Levy…"

Giggling, Levy catches up to me excitedly. "I knew it was you! Your fashion is totally easy to pick out!"

Muttering under my breath half-heartedly, I take off my hood, giving up all hope of escape. "What the heck is that supposed to mean, huh?"

Shrugging in her classic 'cute style', she hurries up, trying to match her short legs with my fast paces. "I mean, you don't even _try_ looking like everyone else! You wear hoodies that definitely aren't meant to flatter you, and loose jeans, and sneakers! Wait, are those boy's sneakers?" her face contorts into joy when I nod sullenly. She gives me a gentle slap on the back.

"Girl, you're totally awesome! No girl I know would even dare to go outside without make-up! Well, except Erza."

"You just insulted me in so many ways."

Laughing, she continues as though I didn't speak. "Have I ever seen you wear make-up?"

Trying not to gag, I give her a look that could kill. "Stop trying to interrogate me."

She's persistent, I'll give her that. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. But seriously, do you wear makeup?"

Frowning, I kick at a pebble. "Don't apologize if you don't mean it, moron. And the day I wear makeup is the day I walk into school with a _heck_ of a lot more attitude than I do right now."

Levy narrows her eyes, mulling over what I said. After a minute, she speaks. "Wait, are you stereotyping girls who wear makeup?"

I shrug, smirking. "I'm speaking from experience, shrimp. That's not stereotyping, if the only girls I've met have all been the same."

We near the end of the line of shops, and my road home is just up ahead. The conversation isn't over, though.

"So how would you describe girls who wear makeup?"

"Dude, just stop talking. You're only going to make yourself mad, if you try picking apart what I say. Anyways, I don't even know why I'm talking to you."

She stops walking, but I continue, since my road is right there. I glance back, not surprised to see that she looks hurt. "Because we're friends!" she calls out.

Turning away, I head down the road, on my way home. "It takes two to be friends."

I hear her say softly, "or maybe it doesn't." No doubt she's giving that determined smile of hers, that always seems to show up no matter how many time I push her away.

What will it take to get her to leave me alone? I can't stop thinking about this as I walk home, and it's a long walk.

* * *

I'm finally back, and I can't stand another minute of this pink bedroom. What am I, a princess? Tugging at the pink curtains, I'm relieved to find out they come down really easily. I snort. What a cheapskate.

There's not much furniture, although what's here is stunningly expensive looking. I think I can keep it all, except for the unneeded vanity. All I have to do is paint the furniture and the walls, and then trade in the princess-ey bed set for something a little more… me.

For now, though, I settle with picking up and organizing a bit. Makes me feel like I'm in charge.

If I'm gonna be here for a while, maybe I should look into buying some stuff for myself. I'm not used to staying in a house for more than a few months, but it's already been that long. Kind of weird. I always thought that when I finally find somewhere somewhat stable, it'd be with a family that actually cared about me.

"And you, old man, definitely don't care about me." I mumble to myself, as I jump onto my bed with a pile of books.

"Alright, let's see what we've got here. Science…. Math… Biology.. Good grief, how much does the guy know?!"

'The guy' being Gildarts, who gave me a stack of homework to do over the weekend. Nobody else got any, which is definitely a sign that he believes in payback...

Sighing, I settle back, kicking off my sneakers and pulling off my hoody, leaving me in a tank top and sweats. Biting the end of my pencil, I glance over everything I'm supposed to fill out. A bunch of crap about wars, and buildings, and.. guess what? People! What a surprise.

I don't want to find out if Gildarts has a bad side, so I dejectedly get to work. This continues for about fifteen minutes, until I come across a word I don't know.

"Er… Conjugation?" I'm in the middle of the English section, and I literally have no idea what these words mean. Do people use these in daily conversation?

Not that I'm stupid, but not going to school for the better part of my life is kind of a big deal. That's why I never did homework all those years ago, and I guess the habit kind of stuck. Oh man, Gildarts is gonna kill me!

And Jude… Holy crap, I'm in trouble. Two guys mad at me for not doing my school spells trouble. And I don't even know how to _spell_ trouble! Shaking my head, I dump everything onto the ground below to me, and curl up on the bed, sinking my face into one of my dozen pillows.

It only takes a minute for my weary mind to drift into sleep, much against my will. I'm so tired of nightmares stealing rest from my body, when it should be regaining energy.

But this time, something changed.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Please ****review :)**

**-God bless-**


	3. Chapter 3

**Heeey :D sorry this update was later, but that's about how long I usually take. I just wanted to thank everyone who followed, favorited, reviewed, or just read! (but especially the ****reviewers)**

* * *

Breathing heavily, my feet pound against the pavement, and my disheveled hair flies behind me. Wiping my brow, I pause for a second to glance at my watch.

Crap, this day couldn't get any worse. First I'm up all night trying to do my homework, I'm harassed by maids to eat dinner, I don't have time to eat so I'm starving, and then I wake up late! Class started like ten minutes ago!

Just as Gildarts is closing the door, I dash in, gasping for breath. My hair is a mess, my face is red, and my legs are _killing_ me. At this point in time I'm ready to admit I should have taken the limo…

Unfortunately, there's no time to regret not asking for it. Gildarts is giving me his serious look that's only used when I'm really in trouble.

"So. Late to class, are we?"

It takes all my willpower not to shiver, but I put on a cocky face.

"And just what, may I ask, could make you arrive ten minutes late?_"_

I stare at him defiantly and stick out my jaw, much like I do with Jude. "None of your business."

Normally he would get mad at me, but he just waves me into class, and shuts the door behind him. I take my seat sullenly, still stuck in the torture of wondering wether or not he plans on punishing me. Levy was right, I'm not class rep by any means.

* * *

"So how many of you actually did your homework?" Gildarts always asks this after class, just like now. Everyone raises their hands, except for a few. Including me. He goes around to the ones who didn't do it, and asks them a bunch of questions, like a friggin' interrogator. When he gets to me, he gives me a lazy look. "So.. Why didn't you do your homework?"

Tapping my fingers on my desk, I shift my gaze to the rest of the students, who are all filing out of the room. Dang teacher, saving me for last.

"So you didn't do your homework, huh?"

Shifting my gaze, I give a noncommittal grunt.

He crosses his arms, and sits in the seat right in front of me. Turning to face me, he taps my desk. "Why don't we take a look at that homework? Because you're not leaving until I see it."

Why don't I want him to see that I did my homework-or most of it, anyways? I mean, the whole reason I'm late is _because_ of it! With much reluctance, I reach into my backpack and pull out a stack of papers. Plopping it on the desk, I roll my eyes. "Are you happy now?"

Gildarts takes a minute to flip through the sheets of paper, before glancing up at me, and I wait impatiently for that satisfying look of confusion on his face.

Beyond my belief, he starts laughing. What does it take to make him mad?! My eyes widen, as he continues laughing heartily. Good grief, if someone walks in here they'll think we're actually getting along! Glaring daggers, I yank my papers back. "What the heck is wrong with you?"

Wiping tears from his eyes, Gildarts returns to normal. "I can see why you didn't raise your hand, kid."

My cheeks are coming close to turning red, and I scratch my neck, not giving him the satisfaction of seeing me blush. "Yeah? And why's that?"

He bursts out laughing just at the mere thought of whatever it was, and I narrow my eyes, a blush definitely appearing now. "Would you shut the frick up?!"

Calming down, he reaches over and grabs my homework at the first page, he motions for me to lean over. Seething at the fact that I'm even sitting here like any normal student, I stiffly crane my neck to get a better look.

He's pointing at the line which says 'name'. I had followed Jude's instructions and put my last name as Heartfilia, although it killed me to pretend I'm related.

"Lucy He-Ha.. I can't even read this. What is this, kid?"

"It's my name, so stop calling me kid, okay?" I spit, gritting my teeth.

Gildarts raises an eyebrow. "Can you say that last word out loud for me?"

Rolling my eyes, I comply. "Heartfilia."

Another fit of laughter, during which I'm contemplating how much time I'd do for killing a teacher.

Picking up a pencil, he starts scratching at the paper. "Heart… Filia… There. _That's_ how you spell it. What did you put..?"

As I compare the two, his and mine, I'm faced with the massive embarrassment that I haven't experienced in years. "You got something you wanna say?" I mumble, trying to find a way to get out of this.

I can tell he's struggling not to ask how I could possibly not know how to spell my own last name, and I will him not to ask, for the sake of my pride. What's left, anyways.  
For a second it seems like he's gonna question me, but then he glances back at the paper, thankfully. However, the torture isn't over yet.

"Alright, moving on… In this part, you were asked to find the area of a triangle, shown here, by multiplying X and Y…. I don't even know where to start."

"Yeah, so I'm not a genius. Get over it!" I snap and jump to my feet, ready to walk out of here in a second. He shakes his head. "That's not the point, kid. Look, I didn't wanna have to do this, but you leave me no choice."

Crap. Is he gonna expel me?

"I'm gonna have to give you private lessons from now on."

* * *

Sulking into the kitchen, I dully jerk the fridge door open and surf through it's contents. My head is pounding with a headache, and all I want to do is crawl into a corner.

Ohhh, why does life have to be so cruel? I just want peace and quiet, maybe think to myself for once without some jerk intervening. But does that every happen? 'course not, because that would be nice. And nice just isn't what life has in store for me.

As I start downing a jug of milk, I almost have a heart attack when I hear a deep voice. _That_ deep voice.

"What are you doing?"

Shoot. Gulping down the last bit, I wipe my mouth. "What's it to ya?"

Jude's eyes harden. "Your attitude is not appreciated, girl. However, there are more important matter to discuss."

"Yeah?" I mutter, crossing my arms. "This should be fun."

"Your teacher called me."

Of course he did! That son of a…

In full-out irritated mode, Jude walks over to me, making me back up against the counter. "He wants to give you private lessons. But you already knew that, didn't you?"

Rolling my eyes, I move to the left, out of range of him. "I couldn't care less about your messed up school expectations, okay? My life has nothing to do with you."

"You will do as I say! I am your guardian Lucy, and if it wasn't for me you would be living on the streets or in a closet!"

"And you keep playing that card!" I yell, eyes blazing just like his. "Well guess what-I'm sick of it! You fricken leave me alone! Why the heck do you even care if I have private lessons, which I'm not going to by the way?!"

"If I had known you were this stupid, I wouldn't have taken you in at all." Jude's voice is lowered, as though he's trying to be all dramatic and stuff. Points to him, because it's working. "How is it even possible for someone to be so incredibly idiotic?! Unbelievable!"

Fuming, I slam my hand on the counter. "Are you _really_ gonna blame me for not having everything _given_ to me?! I had to fight tooth and nail just to go to second grade, then as soon as I get there, I find out it's Hell on earth! Is that my fault?! Does that make me stupid?!"

Jude takes a deep breath, as though I never said anything. "If I find out that all this time you've been failing in school… You'll be sorry. But for now, get your act together. Go to the extra classes with your useless teacher."

"Yeah? And why should I?" It's a bad idea to fight right now, but I can't take much more of him trying to control me. Sixteen years having to fend for myself, and he thinks he can just walk in and tell me what to do?

Just as expected, he doesn't answer, leaving me to only guess at what might happen.

As soon as he leaves the room, I grab the milk jug that isn't quite empty, and smash it with pent up frustration against the ground. Seething, I wipe splatters of the cream from my face. I want out…

My foot connects with the garbage can, and sends it clattering to the floor, making a metallic clang. I want out!

In a moment of pure outrage, I lose control and start kicking and smashing everything I can find. Cupboards are swinging from their hinges, and glass is scattered everywhere. My hands are bleeding at this point, but it's not until a good fifteen minutes later that I even feel anything. Sinking to the floor in exhaustion, I cover my face with my bloody hands.

Gasping for breath, I sob desperately into my hands, my shoulders racking. "I just want to get out…"

Who knows how much time passes as I sit there huddled up, crying until there's nothing left in me but my own pathetic weakness. My eyes are red, and my throat still has a lump in it. I never knew just how painful one could be. Rubbing my forehead, I close my eyes so I don't have to see the aftermath of my temper.

By now my head is clear enough for me to realize that there's no way Jude didn't hear me, which means he's ignoring me. Sighing, I get to my feet. But as I'm leaving, I hear Jude in the other room, talking to some maids. He sees me through the doorway, and smirks. "Getting a little old for temper tantrums, aren't you?"

I can't do anything but ignore him, so I escape through another door and run outside, slamming the door shut with strength I didn't know I have.

"Lucy Heartfilia, get back here now!"

Yeah, I here you, but it's gonna take a lot more than that to drag me back. "Try again old man, because that's not my name!" I scream at the top of my lungs, giving a glare over my shoulder at Jude, who's standing in the doorway looking absolutely pissed off. Well that makes two of us.

* * *

I don't know where I'm going, but I just need to breathe, think, be free, even if it's only for a few hours. I know this street like the back of my hand, after walking to school everyday. Kicking a stone, I can feel my anger slipping away like water, and I don't have the energy to try and catch it. My hands are freakin' bloody, and my eyes are definitely red from crying so much. I give a hoarse chuckle. "Nice going, right? Crying like a baby."

The sun is at that exact point where it's starting to set, but is blazing so bright you can't even see anything. Holding my hand over my eyes, I squint, trying to see the road sign. "Ku.. Kutt street?"

Crap! This is the road that leads to school! How did I not even notice? Sweating, I hesitate at the corner. Should I go to school? I mean, it's the only place I'm familiar with, besides the mansion. And nobody is there right now, so I won't be disturbed. Rubbing my forehead, my feet just start walking before I've made up my mind. Huh, guess I'm going to school.

* * *

Just as I'm testing the heavy entrance doors to see if they're unlocked, the sound of rubber burning asphalt comes from behind me, terrifying me out of my skin. Slowly, I turn around with blazing eyes.

A car door slams, and a man jumps out of the driver seat, before glancing over his shoulder and yelling, "Natsu, don't you dare touch that key!"

Twitching, I'm unable to comprehend what's going on, as Gildarts jogs over to the doors, where I'm standing, mid-crime. Yeah, it's technically breaking and entering.

His face lights up with recognition. "Oh? Lucy?" His pace slows down until he's standing right in front of me. While my mind races for an excuse, I start to slowly inch away. Unfortunately, he notices, and grabs my shoulder. "Seriously kid, what are you doing here?"

My heart is racing with nervousness, but even more than that, I'm ticked off. "What the heck are _you_ doing here, huh? Are you purposely following me, just to piss me off?"

He raises an eyebrow, and pulls out a key, presumable to the door. "I forgot my wallet. Did you forget something too?"

Is he really offering me a way out of this, no questions asked? Frowning, I try and think of why I even came here. "I.. I had to be here…"

Gildarts is in charge of, like, a dozen teenage boys. There's no way he won't be suspicious of me. But instead of questioning me, he shrugs and gives his trademark grin. "Why didn't you just say that? Follow me." He unlocks the door, and walks inside, gesturing for me to follow. Slowly, I walk in after him. Is he really that stupid?

The hallway is dark and empty, but even though I guessed it would be, it's still weird. Gildarts heads for our classroom, which I never thought I would willingly walk into. He goes to his desk and grabs a wallet from a drawer, while I pace at the doorway.

He looks up after a minute, and stares at me until I stand still, not meeting his eyes. "What? Is there some unknown rule about pacing?"

"You busy right now?"

I can't help rolling my eyes, not knowing how to respond. "If I was busy, I wouldn't be inside this fricken school."

Walking over to me, he gives me a firm stare. "Then you're coming with me."

Stunned, I can't even process what that means. "Wha… Excuse me?"

He grins over his shoulder, beckoning for me to follow. "Oh look, you _do_ have manners!"

Flustered, I shove my hands into my pockets and stalk behind him. "Shut up. Just shut up."

Holding the door open for me, he smirks. "Are you sure? I won't be able to tell you where we're going."

"I never said I was going with you!" I retort, still unconsciously following him across the parking lot. Before I know it, we're standing in front of an SUV. The windows are down, and I can see the usual gang of boys laughing and messing around. One of them sees me and Gildarts, and grins. "So that's what took so long, huh?"

I don't even want to know what he means by that. Gildarts gestures to the back door. "Hop in, kid."

As he gets into the driver seat, I'm left to stare dumbfounded. One of the boys opens the door for me from the inside, and slides over. "Get in! We're gonna be late for the movie!"

Clueless, I soon find myself seated in between a boy with lots of piercings, and a kid I recognize from before. Natsu is sitting up front in the passenger seat, while Gildarts drives. I've never been down this way before, so I don't have any idea where we're going.

"Hey, what's your name?"

Shifting my gaze, I stare at the kid from the other day. "Huh?"

He raises an eyebrow. "Your name? I already told you mine."

Frowning, I ignore him. He stares at me for a second, before looking at Gildarts. "What's her problem?" Problem? Yeah, more like I _am_ the problem.

"Oy, nobody's got a problem. What have I told you about that, Gray?"

Gray mumbles something under his breath, and glances at me. "Sorry."

Sorry. When was the last time someone said that to me, and actually meant it? Crossing my arms, I lean back a little. "Whatever, man."

The next five minutes are understandably awkward, neither one of us saying anything. Suddenly, a head pokes around the front seat. "Have you seen any of the Marvel movies?"

Ignoring him, I close my eyes. Who does he think he is, trying to act all familiar with me?

"Because Guardians of the Galaxy is showing at the dollar theater!"

My eyes crack open, to see him grinning at me. As he goes on and on about the movie, I can hear Gray chuckle. Too tired to tell Natsu to shut up, I give him a fierce glower, which doesn't seem to effect him at all.

"Anyways, this old man's been busy for the past few weekends, so we couldn't go till now." the pink-headed boy concludes, much to my relief. I'm not sure how much more of his jabbering I could take.

Gildarts grabs him by the shirt and yanks him so that he's facing the front. "Two things, brat. First of all, you kids didn't need me to go with you. And second, don't call me old!"

Now they're fighting about how old the fricken guy is! 'Course I'm inclined to be a little curious, but right now I'm being practically kidnapped by a bunch of strangers, who don't even seem to realize it.

"Hey! Would you two imbeciles mind shutting up? Good grief, are you in Kindergarten?!" I shout, shoving my foot in-between the two of them. I would kick them, but Gildarts is kind of driving this car, and I don't _really_ wanna die today.

Gildarts continues driving quietly, but of course the annoying pinkie's gotta argue. "Does he look forty-five to you? I swear he's like fifty!"

Twitching, I can't find my voice to argue with him. Luckily, Gray intervenes. "Dude, do you have any sense of age? He's way older than fifty!"

Never mind. Sighing resignedly, I glance at Gajeel while the three others try strangling each other. Wow, his hair's pretty long, which I didn't notice before. His face suggests he's ticked off as much as I am, and I feel a bit of relief that at least somebody besides me has a bit of sense.

Suddenly, a groan comes from behind me, and I turn around in a flash.

"Geez, can't you be a little quieter? I was finally able to sleep, then I wake up to find you guys arguing like babies!"

As Natsu and Gray drag the orange-headed pervert into their argument, Gildarts slows to a stop at the red light. Sweet, this is my chance to escape! With experienced ease, made easier since I never wear a seatbelt, I slip out of my seat and practically climb over Gray's lap to open the door. In the confusion, I slam the door shut and put on a spurt of speed, desperate to get as far away as possible from them.

"Hey! What are you doing, kid?"

Stopping for a moment, I stare as they're forced to drive away due to traffic. Gildart's shout doesn't deter me from my escape, and I run in the opposite direction.

* * *

It's late in the evening by the time I finally stumble home, exhausted. Who knew that guy could drive so far in such little time!

The lights are out, and not a noise can be heard. Thankfully the maids or whatever don't sleep here, so I'm left to my own devices. Sighing wearily, I immediately start raiding the pantry for any form of edible-ness.

Carefully balancing a plate of crackers on top of my elbow, I tiptoe up the stairs, making sure to avoid alerting Jude of my presence. Great, when did I become this terrified pansy?

Chuckling grimly, I sneak through my bedroom door. I'm like a rebellious flower, changing with each new habitat. Who knew I was a flower, huh? Reminds me of those flowers in the hospital, that for some reason won't leave the back of my mind. They were probably the only flowers I've ever considered to be pretty, or at least appealing.

After kicking my shoes off, I get comfortable on my bed and just… relax. After a stressful day, sometimes that's all someone needs. The shades are still closed from this morning, so I'm left in my solitary darkness. Finally!

Today was more exhausting then I'm used to, and a lot of things happened. Gildarts wants to give me one-on-one lessons, Jude's probably pissed off at me for a million reasons, and those boys with Gildarts are most likely gonna question me tomorrow about jumping out of the car.

Just what I need.

* * *

"I've decided to give you one more chance, Lucy. However, I have conditions."

Shoving a bowl of oatmeal down my throat, I almost choke in surprise. "You _what_?" I splutter, still coughing.

Glaring, Jude waits a moment to reply, while putting on his coat. "Stop acting like an animal, and sit up straight." Rubbing his forehead, he groans in frustration. "Honestly, I don't know how you can live with yourself!"

I roll my eyes, trying not to punch him. "Same could be said for you, moron. Now get out of my hair before you seriously tick me off, 'kay?"

The tension in the air is satisfying, and I can see his wheels turning, trying to figure out how to break me. Yeah, because it's that easy.

"I'm going to ignore that comment, since it's in your best interest. Now back to the beginning of this conversation, I mentioned conditions."

"Oh? And how are _those_ in my best interest?" I retort, raising an eyebrow cockily.

He narrows his eyes and looks me in the eye. "If you don't meet my demands, I don't meet yours. Should I go into detail?"

I swear, if he says one more word… Obviously I'm not gonna give him the satisfaction of answering, so I give him a rebellious glare. Am I like, an oxymoron? I claim to be rebellious and all, but whenever I'm threatened I end up relenting.

Taking my silence as obedience, he continues. "You will take these supplementary lessons from your teacher. Your grades _will_ be excellent by the end of this school year, and you_ will _have a proper attitude from now on. Not _this_." He finishes, and gives me a look. I know what it means.

Yawning exaggeratedly, I get to my feet, unable to hide the fact that I'm itching to get out of the room. "You sure want a lot of stuff, huh? Greedy much?" After stretching for a second, I grab my backpack and head out the door.

"You complained about your arm having problems, correct"

I freeze.

"Wouldn't it be a shame if something were to happen to it again?"

Unconsciously holding my arm to my side, I throw him a nervous glare before slamming the door behind me.

* * *

**Please do me a favor and review! Just let me know what you thought?**

**-God Bless**


	4. Chapter 4

**Heeey! It's been a while, huh? I'm so sorry, it's just that I've been having a lot of family problems and such, you know how it goes ;P**

**So anyways, thank you to everyone who favorited, followed, reviewed or silently read! It really means a lot!**

**My inspiration for this chapter were a few songs, so if you want to, check out Demons by Imagine Dragons, Hear Me by the same band, and Scars by Colton Dixon**

**Disclaimer: I dis anyone who claims they created Fairy Tail aside from Hiro Mashima!**

* * *

Giving a grunt, I make one last mighty effort to drag the bulky dresser out of my bedroom. However, it's just not enough to move the furniture out the door. How long have I been going at this? I glance at the clock while wiping my brow. Almost two?! Holy crap, I started around ten!

I find it a little strange that I'm cleaning my room, especially after that fight with Jude yesterday, but there's not much else I can do. Besides, I'm sick and tired of this nasty pink stuff. If I'm being forced to stay here any longer, there's no reason to put up with all this crap.

"Miss Heartfilia?"

At the questioning voice that comes from behind me, I turn around. "Who the heck are you calling 'miss Heartfilia', huh?" I snap at the maid, who raises an eyebrow.

"Pardon me?"

Her tone of voice makes it seem like she doesn't know what's wrong. Irritated, I cross my arms.

"Did I somehow become money-bag's relation over night, or what? Fricken idiot… Don't ever call me that again. Or better yet, don't call me at all."

She doesn't back down, which surprises me. "Mr. Heartfilia said that we were to call you Miss Heartfilia. So my apologies, but he's the one who hands me a paycheck at the end of the month."

What? Did she seriously just say that? Oh man, she's asking for a black eye.

"Nobody," I growl under my breath, "decides what my name is. You don't have any say in the matter. _Jude_ doesn't have any say in the matter. So don't you dare attach 'Heartfilia' to the end of my name, moron!" My voice is raised by the end of my short rant.

Looking at me with a stern face, the old maid folds her arms. "Miss, I don't make the orders-I just follow them. However, what I say next is completely of my own mind."

"Huh?" the word is barely out of my mouth before she stalks over to me, looking down on me since she stands a few inches taller.

"You may not have the best life, but that does not at all excuse your behaviour. You are disrespectful, rude and utterly self-centered." I open my mouth to say something, but she continues before I can retort.

"For a young girl like you, you have very bad manners and a nasty temper, which shows in everything you say or do. Well I'd like to remind you of something, Lucy-you are not the only person in this world. Believe it or not, those young maids you seem to think are poisonous or something are just as important as you-in fact, I care worlds more for them than I do for you. They try their hardest to do their job, yet everything out of your mouth is an insult."

She takes a breath, her aged eyes boring into my own, making me flinch even in my stupor. After a painstakingly long minute, she sighs.

"Believe me, I understand what you're going through, having gone through multiple foster homes myself. But you should know how incredibly fortunate you are, as well."

Her wrinkled face looks the picture of misery for a second. "You ended up in a mansion, just like me. But our positions are much, much different."

* * *

The old maid didn't show up the next day, nor the day after. As I pull on a jacket to head to school on Monday, my mind is still full of her words. I spent all day Saturday and Sunday sulking in my room, since I was so tense and irritated that I would randomly blow up at anyone who crossed my path.

Who is she to talk to me like that? I mean who asked for her opinion? In my world, nobody bothers with someone else's personal business. I'll act the way I want. If they choose to get upset about it, that's their problem.

Absent-mindedly bumbling through the front doors of Fairy High's building, I don't really notice what's going on around me. All I can think about is how unfair all this is. I didn't ask to be sent to that mansion, so why is it suddenly my responsibility to take care of the maids' friggin emotional needs? They're the ones who chose to go there.

Ouch! I groan, blinking when I realize I'm on the ground and my head hurts.

My head is spinning... And someone is apologizing. That must mean this was their fault! Rubbing my head, I glare at the person in front of me as my vision clears. "Watch where you're going, moron!"

It turns out to be a girl, the one who sits in front of Levy. She smiles nervously, and offers her hand. "I'm so sorry, I was in a rush to get to class! Are you alright?"

Ignoring her, I stand up on my own, still a little dizzy. Crap, my stuff fell out of my bag! Crossing my arms, I glare at the airhead. She apologizes again, bending over to grab some of my unused books.

"Oi, don't touch my stuff! You've already caused enough problems, moron. Just get out of my way, alright?" I mutter angrily, giving her a less-than-gentle shove in the direction of our homeroom. "Fricken idiot..."

Feeling a few students' eyes on me, I kneel down and start collecting my things. Shouldn't these guys be hurrying to class or something? Geez!

Once I'm finally done, I toss my backpack over my shoulder and stalk to class, sending a glare at anyone around me. Thanks to a certain airhead, I'm now late to class.

I slowly walk into the classroom, noting that my worst enemy-Gildarts-is talking to some chick with red-hair. I'm safe for now... Taking my seat, I drop my head on the wooden desk in front of me, ready to sleep for a year.

Before I can actually drift off though, someone pokes my shoulder. "What?" I snap, not bothering to raise my head.

"Lucy, can you sit up please?"

Great. It's Levy. "Why?"

"We have to talk."

"Then talk. Maybe I'll listen, maybe I won't."

"Lucy Heartfilia, look at me!" Levy says in a stern voice that doesn't fit her appearance. However, it's enough to make me raise my head.

"Good grief, what do you want?"

Pulling off her reading glasses, Levy looks me in the eye. Is there something going on with people looking me in the eye and being all serious? It's kinda freaky.

"Do you remember Lisanna?"

"Ehh... Who?"

She frowns. "I introduced you two a while back. Although it doesn't surprise me you didn't pay attention." Scooching her seat to the side, she points to the person in front of her. "This is Lisanna."

Lisanna doesn't meet my eyes as I stare at her.

"Thanks for making me late, Lasagna. Oh, and for giving me a headache. And for ruining the pages of my books. But let's not forget that you smushed my lunch too, okay?"

Unusually stiff today, Levy glances at her friend and offers a smile for whatever reason. Turning back to me, her smile disappears. "Lisanna didn't want to say anything to me, but some other people told me about what happened."

My eyes narrow. "What the frick are you talking about?"

Levy glares at me. "Lisanna apologized to you for accidentally knocking you over, right? " She says, putting emphasis on 'accidentally'. "So how come you're being a total jerk about it?"

"Excuse me?" I scoff, sitting up properly. "A _jerk_?" My eyes are wide with shock. "Do you even know what a jerk _is_?"

"Yeah, I do. There's also another name for a jerk, Lucy. A bully." Levy shoots back, a pained expression on her face.

I can't believe what I'm hearing. Is she calling me a fricken bully because I'm justly mad at someone? She's in for a treat if she ever meets a real bully! At this point I'm actually hoping she will, just because she's totally out of line right now.

Shaking her head, the blue-haired midget turns around and places her hand on Lasagna's shoulder. However, her friend shrugs it off. "Levy, I said you didn't have to do this! I'm sure Lucy was just in a bad mood today! She's not a bully..."

That's right, Lasagna. Act all innocent so people know you're the victim.

"If this is just Lucy having a bad day then I've never seen her on a good day," Levy counters, not looking at me. "I thought the way she acts was just a cover, but after today I've realized something. This is all there is to her."

* * *

This is all there is to me? What is 'this'?

Levy's last comment keeps running through my head, annoyingly enough. It seems I've lost my ability to forget anything I don't want to think about.

Said bookworm has been shooting miserable glares at me all morning, which I've either ignored or returned with a glare.

My mind distracted by annoying things, I kind of stop paying attention to class. It's just about a bunch of stuff I don't understand, anyways.

"Lucy!"

"What?" I snap, still zoned out.

"Don't give attitude during class, for one thing."

Aw crap, it's Gildarts. Sighing, I cross my arms and look away from his steady gaze. "Come on man, we both know I don't have the answers to these stupid questions."

His face doesn't change, and he doesn't respond. Looking out of the corner of my eyes, I notice that nobody else is in the room. When did that happen?

"There are no questions-you slept through them all." he finally says, making me blink. Did I fall asleep? No, definitely not... Frowning, my eyes meet his.

"Oi, don't yell at me for something I wasn't doing. Also, you said not to give attitude during class, but clearly there's isn't a class going on." I mutter grumpily.

I know I'm just picking a fight, but I can't hold back. Everything that's been going on over the past few days is leaving me stressed out, which results in my quick temper getting the best of my more rational side. Whatever I have of one, anyways...

Gildarts gives me a stern glare, making me feel even worse. "I wasn't yelling at you, and I meant that you shouldn't give attitude at all." He sighs before continuing. "I'm gonna have to have a talk with you later, but for now just go to lunch."

Having finished, he leaves the room without a backward glance. Rolling my eyes in annoyance, I lean back in my seat. Like heck he's giving me a talk later, whatever that even means. Oh yeah, shouldn't he be furious with me about the other day? Is that what he wants to talk about? He probably is gonna yell at me or something, so maybe I should run for it after classes.

Dang it, I have that stupid tutoring thing afterwards! I swear, soon enough I'm gonna get over myself and run away from this fricken Hell.

I shoulder my bag and get to my feet, barely even noticing my arm's little twitch. It's become natural by now and hardly bothers me.

* * *

As I walk into the cafeteria, my eyes immediately go to where Levy and her friends are sitting by the wall. They aren't acting different, although Levy looks away as I walk past. Lasagna as well, actually. Whatever, they're both idiots anyways…

My sandwich is completely squashed after being dropped earlier, so I don't even bother trying to eat it. Instead, I ignore my stomach's growls and absent-mindedly play on my phone. Anything to make the rest of lunch hour pass quickly.

"-don't, Gildarts said he'll talk to her later…"

At the miserable attempt at whispering going on behind me, I close my eyes in annoyance. "Stop talking behind my back."

A shuffling sound, then I look up to see a few familiar faces. Natsu, Bla-no, _Gray_, and that orange-haired playboy. Rolling my eyes, I turn around in my seat so I'm facing them.

"Well? Spit it out."

Color-boy takes a step forward, arms crossed. "Just so you know, you really caused a lot of problems the other day." he says coldly, making me snort.

"Is that surprising to you or something?" It should be common knowledge by now that I'm really good at making trouble, whether on purpose or not.

He rubs his neck, obviously annoyed. "Look, I don't know what your problem is, but you better stop making so much trouble for Gildarts, got it?"

"Oi, are you accusing _me_ of making trouble?!" I can't help raising my voice. "Am I 'making trouble' by keeping to myself? Or when I don't want some stupid adult meddling with my personal business?" Indignant, I get to my feet, ready to leave

"I won't even try to understand why you guys worship him so much, but to each their own, I guess. However that saying goes. Anyways, if you want to help him, make sure he knows I want nothing to do with him."

Gray narrows his eyes as I start walking away. "Oi, Lucy."

I pause

"Don't pretend to know him, okay? Because you don't. But at the very least, keep this in mind: if he's paying this much attention to you, chances are he's trying to help _you_."

* * *

"Thank you for reading, Levy."

Ugh… This is my least favorite class.

_Literature._

It's not exactly a secret that I suck at reading. Like, really. I suck at it.

The teacher's okay, except for always making me read despite knowing I can't. I mean I can, but not everything. So yeah. I don't like it here, but at least it's the last class.

However, today I'm in a particulalyr bad mood, as mentioned before. Levy is usually there to be annoyingly friendly, but obviously… Well, let's just say she's not feeling very outgoing today. Anyways, I can't concentrate at all.

The teacher-lady closes her book, smiling. "I'm sure you'll all be excited to hear that this Friday is our last day reading _Moby Dick_."

Amidst the muffled cheers of relief, Levy lets out a disappointed sigh. Rolling my eyes, I shove the stupid book into my bag. She probably just wants extra points with the teacher.

"Oh, Lucy! Would you mind sticking around for a few minutes?" the teacher calls, making me sigh.

"You too, Natsu." she continues.

Glancing to the side, I stare at the pink-haired boy for a long minute before my mind clicks with recognition. How did I not notice he's in the same class as me?

He walks over with an oddly straight face, which is weird because he's always grinning. A little more curious now, I sit on a desk in the front row, impatiently waiting for the teacher to start.

She clasps her hands and gives the two of us a brief smile. "First of all, have you two met one another yet?"

Neither of us answers, leaving her to stare at us in confusion. "Er… I guess not. Well why don't you introduce yourselves, okay?"

Shifting my gaze to Natsu, I narrow my eyebrows. He doesn't return the gesture, but he's obviously annoyed. He showed up with Gray at lunch, now that I think about it. Probably mad at me too.

Surprisingly enough, he initiates the forced introduction. "I'm Natsu."

Ha, he's a newbie. I did catch a bit of stiffness in his voice, but that's all. Before the teacher suspects something, I give my reply. "Lucy."

"Alright, that makes you acquaintances, right?" Not waiting for a response, the teacher continues. "Right. Now then. I hate to say this, but you both are really falling behind the rest of the class. Especially you, Lucy."

I give a huff at her last comment, crossing my arms in annoyance. No duh, lady.

"Anyways, I don't want you guys to feel bad, because there are other students in similar situations. The only reason I pulled the two of you together is because of Gildarts. You both have classes with him, right?"

Sighing, I shift my weight, keeping silent.

However, Natsu decides to reply. "Yup, he's our homeroom teacher. But what does he have to do with anything?"

I mentally thank him for voicing my own thoughts. What _does_ the old man have to do with this? Although I guess I shouldn't be surprised. He's always involved when it comes to his boys.

"Well Gildarts actually heard of my 'problem' students... " She notices our expressions and hurriedly continues. "Not that I think you're problems! That's just what he called you guys." She gives a little chuckle and looks from me to Natsu, as though thinking of some secret joke.

She shakes her head in amusement, before glancing at the clock. "Oh gosh, it's already four fifteen! Alright, I'm gonna hurry. Natsu and Lucy, you two are gonna be studying with Gildarts when you would normally be in this class."

My eyes widen. "Wait, what?!"

Natsu grins. "Gildarts is gonna tutor us? Sweet!"

I officially hate this guy.

So basically, I'm just adding an extra hour to those stupid private lessons with Gildarts. As though it wasn't enough torture… I swear he's doing this on purpose! Also, I have to put up with Natsu, possibly the most annoying out of all of Gildarts' 'followers'.

I can barely hold in my anger. The teacher is chatting with Natsu, so I grab my stuff and hurry out without saying a word.

* * *

Storming into Gildarts' classroom, I glare at said teacher.

There's nothing I can say to explain just how much I hate him. Everything he does is annoying, and most of it just makes things worse for me. Who does he think he is?

I stand there for a minute, not saying anything. Gildarts looks up at me but continues the silence. The air around us is tense, at least on my part. I swear, if he doesn't think I'm angry at this then he's a bigger idiot than he appears.

"Did you know that there's a clock in every single room here?" he finally speaks, keeping his face calm.

Is he really gonna lecture me for getting here late? After he goes and does a bunch of crap without my permission?! I'm totally lost for words. All I want to do right now is punch him.

Gildarts continues, knowing I won't answer. "You've got a habit of being late, that's for sure." He stands and walks over to one of the desks, sliding two chairs so there's one on each side.

"Take a seat, kid."

I mentally kick myself for not making him wait even longer. "I didn't come here for a stupid class, moron. The only reason I'm here is so you know that I hate your guts."

Sitting down himself, Gildarts looks at me and offers a slight grin. "Why does that not surprise me? I already noticed, actually."

Frick! I can't figure this guy out! Is he mad at me? Is he just fooling around? Good grief this is messed up!

Unsure of what to do, my eyes narrow. "... Good. Then I guess I don't have to waste my breath." My words are a little slow, as I'm trying to think of what to do.

Gildarts doesn't leave time for me to do that, though. He jerks his head, gesturing for me to come over. "Well now that that's over with, I get to do my part."

"Did you already forget I said I'm not doing lessons with you? Or is your head so big you didn't hear…" I growl half-heartedly, crossing my arms so that he'll understand I'm not gonna do what he says.

"Lucy," he says, looking more serious than a minute ago, "there are two ways of doing this-the hard way, or the easy way. Do you want to guess what those are?"

He takes out his phone, making me frown in confusion. What's he planning?

"The easy way is you coming over here right now. The hard way…" he pauses and gives his phone a little wave, "is me giving your parents a call and telling them exactly what you've been doing up to this very minute. Or what you _haven't_ been doing."

My eyes widen at the mention of Jude. "If you even think about doing that I swear I'll kill you!"

As Gildarts silently taps his fingers on the desk, I frantically search for an answer. I don't even want to think about what Jude would do if he knew what I've been up to since coming to this rotten school, but I also don't want to know what Gildarts has planned for today.

He wants to talk. That's the worst thing anyone ever says to me. I can take a few blows, okay? At least then I know for sure they hate my you never know when it comes to talking. Especially with Gildarts. He's no doubt gonna lecture me on everything I'm doing wrong.

"I'm gonna give you ten seconds," Gildarts says, making me glare in annoyance.

"Shut _up_."

Okay Lucy, it's not that hard. What are you more scared of? Jude's wrath, or Gildarts' lecture?

_Who_ are you more scared of?

I find myself sitting in front of Gildarts with six seconds to spare.

He nods to himself and leans back. "I would have chosen me too, to be honest."

I can't tell whether that's sarcasm or not… Either way, I made my choice and now I've gotta endure whatever he's gonna throw at me. That was really low of him, bringing Jude into this. He might now know what's really going on, but he should know that no kid wants their parents knowing what they're doing. Period.

"So then, let's begin."

Walking over to the whiteboard, he grabs a marker. What the heck?

"Maybe you're wondering what I wanna talk about-maybe you're not. But here's a little example, just in case." he mumbles from behind the marker cap that's in-between his teeth.

As he makes what looks like random strokes with the marker, I end up zoning out. Resting my chin on my hand, I start imagining what Jude would do if Gildarts told him what I do at school.

If he was a normal person, he probably wouldn't care. However, there is no normal with Jude. He's completely hooked on my grades for some reason. Just a few weeks ago he tried sending a servant to make sure I'd finished my homework.

Let's just say that none of us were happy the next day.

"Finished!" Gildarts calls, jerking me out of my thoughts. Sighing, I raise my eyes to stare at the whiteboard.

The first thing I notice is a pitiful, _pitiful_ drawing of who I'm going to assume is me.

"You made me look like a cow!" I shout, sending a death glare Gildarts' way.

The supposed teacher feigns ignorance. "No I didn't, brat. Anyways, can you see okay from back there?"

Muttering under my breath, I flash a glare. "I could see from a mile away with how big you fricken made me."

"Quiet. So you see the different groups?" he asks, ignoring my comment. Rolling my eyes, I take a closer look. Those are supposed to be people?

I snort. "At least you gave me a face. Those guys are just blobs."

He chucks an extra marker at me, which I'm too slow to dodge.

"Hey!" I call, ticked off.

"Stop criticizing me. I'm the teacher."

"Yeah, and I'm a cow."

Obviously restraining himself, Gildarts takes a deep breath then clears his throat. "Alright, the people on top. Do you know what this word is?" he asks, pointing to a long-ish word that's placed above that group.

"Err…" I pause, frowning. "Adultery?"

Giving a snort, Gildarts raises an eyebrow. "Is that your best guess?"

An eye roll in his direction gets me another marker in the face.

"Are you kidding me? You're the one laughing at your student!"

He ignores my indignant shout and continues. "This is the word 'authority'. Do you know what that _means_?"

I scoff. "Yeah. Cocky jerks. Like all you teachers here."

"Thanks for proving my point." Gildarts says and points to the next group.

"These are students. The word next to you guys is 'youth'. And if you're wondering why you're a little bit farther down from them, it's because you're more of an immature kid."

"Are you kidding me?! _I'm _the immature one? What about, like, every boy in your class?!" My voice is losing it's gruffness, which makes me appear less angry than I am. This sucks.

Gildarts raises an eyebrow. "They know when to stop. You don't. Which brings me to my main point."

Where is he going with all this? My face falls. I'm so confused right now that it hurts.

"Your attitude."

Well that doesn't surprise me.

"If you're not snorting, scoffing or rolling your eyes, you're spitting out insults. I've counted dozens of them come out of your mouth in just the past week."

I snort before realizing that's just making his point. He raises a brow and I settle for glowering at him.

"I don't need someone dictating my life, which is what everyone is trying to do. So suck it up."

Gildarts crosses his arms, which is apparently a trend nowadays. "If you'll look at the board, you'll notice how I drew the teenagers to be lower than the adults. Know why?"

" 'cuz adults think they know everything and teens are stupid."

"You do realize that not every adult is a complete idiot, right?"

I don't give an answer.

"And not every adult is a complete jerk?"

I still don't answer.

Rubbing his forehead, Gildarts looks in frustration at the board, then back at me. "What the heck, kid? Were you raised under a rock or something?"

I give a snort again without even thinking, but hold my tongue.

He closes his eyes, probably in annoyance. I do the same. Out of frustration.

Of course I'm right. All the adults in my life are idiots or jerks. Well, that's not to say that any of them are in my life anymore. There's only one or two at a time, depending on how long I'm in their home. Right now Jude is the only adult in my life. And he's a jerk.

"So I'm either an idiot or a jerk, right?"

My eyes shoot open in surprise.

How could I forget? There are two adults in my life as of right now.

Gildarts is a part of your life, Lucy?

Wait, no he's not! He's just a nuisance. Someone who keeps butting in, even though he's not welcome. Crap. What are you doing? What's happened to you in the past few months?

Lucy, get a grip. You don't need anyone else. They'll only hurt you.

_He'll _only hurt you.

But… Why is it so hard to shut him out? When he asks how I'm doing no matter how many times I pretend not to hear, why does it make me feel special?

"Is that a yes?"

The blurry figure in front of my turns into the very man I'm thinking about as my eyes refocus.

"... What?"

Gildarts sits down again, right in front of me. "Am I an idiot?"

Startled, I lean back an inch or two. It takes a minute for his words to register, since I'm still battling with myself.

"Yep." I finally reply, my eyes refusing to meet his. Instead, I pull out my headphones and iPhone. This is too much drama for me.

As I plug in the headphones, Gildarts looks at me in amusement. "You're just gonna avoid me? Am I the plague or something?"

Ignoring him, I place my feet on the desk and close my eyes again, effectively blocking him out of all my senses.

* * *

With mad skill, I manage to open the front door using only my foot. I would use my hands, but they're in my pockets and I'm too lazy to take them out.

As soon as I walk in, my face contorts into disgust.

"What the frick are you doing here, money-bag?"

Jude sighs from where he's sitting at the enormous dining room table, but I can bet he's smirking on the inside. "Children with dirty mouths aren't allowed at the table, Lucy."

"Well then I guess we're both happy now." I mutter under my breath, walking past him to get to the stairs.

A hand on my arm makes me freeze. Giving Jude a venomous glare, I jerk my arm out of his grip.

"Keep your filthy hands off of me, creep!" I can't help my voice from raising a little.

A look from Jude sends me straight to my room. Not because he looked angry, but because he looked satisfied.

What the heck is going on today?

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading!**

**-God Bless :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Herro! This chapter's pretty long B) **

**Okay, a massive thanks to all of your amazing people who reviewed. Honestly, I was grinning every time I read one :D And thanks for following etc. too! **

***whispers* You guys are awesome...**

* * *

The first thing I realize upon leaving dreamland is that my stomach appears to be caving in on itself. Wincing at the emptiness, my eyes don't look up until a few seconds later.

As soon as I do, the precious air in my lungs seems to completely disappear.

Staring in shock at the man in front of me, my hands automatically lift the blanket to cover my upper body.

Eyes, empty as my stomach, blink slowly as he stands unmoving at the foot of my bed. His face is just as I remember, from that scar by his ear to his stubbly beard. Even his clothes.

Like, _exactly_ as I remember.

And that brings me to the second thing I realize after waking up.

I didn't actually wake up.

* * *

Awake for real this time, I lay in bed breathless and on edge. It takes a long time for my eyes to get rid of the images still flashing before them, and an even longer time to understand that I'm in a different place now.

It always gets better though when I find myself alone.

Stretching my arms, my eyes shift to the clock. I immediately let out a sigh. Dreams like these are also a pain because I end up waking up way earlier than usual. My body needs sleep...

My mouth opens involuntarily, letting out a loud yawn. If I'm already up, I might as well get ready for the day. School, in particular.

School sucks. Seriously, it's more pointless than my existence. Hear the touch of sarcasm? Yeah. Even this early I'm still cool.

As I slip into a pair of sweats, I stare at the wall in a daze. My legs buckle almost without me realizing it, so I sit on the floor and reflect upon life.

Just kidding, that sounds too fancy for me. Instead, I think about who deserves to die the most.

Hands down, Jude is the winner. That cold-hearted creep has only two things in his heart; money and power. And that's assuming he even _has_ a heart.

This coming from his own mouth, the only thing he cares about is my education. That's at least better than anyone else I've lived with, but it's really suspicious because he literally hates me. So he wants my education to benefit him somehow, but I honestly can't think of anything.

I'm not becoming a doctor, if that's what he's thinking. Besides. Even if I did, I've got concrete plans to terminate his guardianship by the time I'm eighteen. Heck, if I could then I'd do it right now! I've actually heard of kids living on their own at sixteen-incubation or something-but that's only if there are no other options.

Yeah. There's no way my social worker would listen to me; in her eyes, I'm living in a very stable home. She's gone so far as to say that I'm incredibly lucky. I almost punched her.

Seems all I wanted to mull over was how much I hate Jude. He's a douche, that guy.

As for everyone else, there aren't very many people I really, _really_ hate. At least not that I see anymore. However, a _lot_ of people annoy the heck out of me.

The clock chimes at seven o' clock, telling me that I still have almost two hours to go. Sighing, I remember that I'm in a tank top. There are lots of things on my arms that other people shouldn't see.

So what do I wear today? A hoodie, a hoodie, or… how about a hoodie? Yes, I know that I have a very limited wardrobe and I'm fine with it.

Rooting through my closet, I end up with a black jacket over a teeshirt. This is like the first time I've ever _not_ worn a hoodie to school. Or anywhere else.

Leaving my hair a tangled mess, I stumble dangerously down the stairs, still not quite awake yet.

The path to the kitchen is through the dining room, in which there is a humungous table. I still can't even believe they make tables this big. Every time I walk past, my eyes automatically go to the shiny gold patterns decorating the whole thing.

Today, though, there's just one thing on my mind. Food.

So of course it comes out of nowhere when my foot jams into the table leg. "Ouch! Frick! Who the heck put this here?!"

As I crouch down to inspect my damaged toe, a maid comes from the kitchen, wiping flour from her hands. "Oh, Miss Heartfilia! Are you alright?"

Looking up, the irritation in my eyes is enough to send the maid back to the kitchen. I didn't even yell at her for calling me that. Lucky for her.

Limping into the kitchen with a sour face, I'm met by the same maid, only this time she looks really sorry for something. Great.

"Um… I'm really sorry to say this, but we just received an order from Mr. Heartfilia…"

Only half listening, I start ruffling through the pantry for something to eat.

"It's about your language, actually."

"Hn..." These poptarts look good.

"I'm sorry, but our orders are to take away one of your meals every time you use a curse word."

The package of pastries drops from my hand. "What did you just say?"

Twisting her apron, the girl doesn't meet my steady gaze as she replies in a rush. "Mr. Heartfilia says that if you use foul language, you aren't allowed to eat."

My jaw almost hits the floor. "So… Let me get this straight. He's trying to ban me from the kitchen because of the way I _talk_?" My voice is steady, but all of my feelings are being passed to her through my eyes.

She gives a hesitant nod, looking like she's on the verge of calling for backup. Meanwhile, my head is spinning. Jude has finally played his cards for real, huh?

"Who the frick do you guys think you are?!"

My shout catches the maid off guard, making her jump in surprise. Mumbling apologies under her breath, she backs out of the kitchen, abandoning whatever stupid fricken food she was making.

A box of crackers falls to the ground as I furiously throw a bunch of snacks into a plastic bag. If that monster thinks he can control me like that, he's dead wrong. And hitting me where it hurts the most…

Eyes blazing, I storm back upstairs and dump the snacks into my backpack.

My mind goes back to last night, when I came home from school. Jude said something about girls with dirty mouths not being allowed at the table.

Well done, Jude, well done. You carried out your threat; if I don't co-operate, you'll take away my privileges.

But you seem to think that I'm some ordinary kid who will behave according to their punishment.

Nope. There are plenty of ways around this; and I've got years of experience to use.

* * *

Today is the first day me and Natsu have a reading lesson or something with Gildarts. Kicking a rock that's in front of me, my fist clenches in frustration. I've only got two options and both of them suck. Either I sit through Gildarts' lessons, or I ditch and Jude finds out about everything.

That guy would kill me if he found out.

As I'm walking through the school's parking lot, a bunch of girls start walking in front of me. I immediately recognize Levy, then Lasagna after a few moments. It's the usual gang of chicks that bookworm hangs out with.

Not to judge, but at least appearance wise all of them fit my description of 'girly-girl'. Alright, that was a lie-I'm very judgemental, which may seem a little hypocritical since I despise people who judge me like that.

But to be fair, it's a habit I picked up from my peers.

Have I ever mentioned how much I _love_ adults? There are so many nice habits of mine I can attribute to them. Insert smiley face.

So what am I doing right now? I'm fricken going to a rotten school full of idiotic kids because of some pushy old man who can't get his nose out of my business. Strangely enough, I know two people like that..

"Levy…" one of the girls whispers rather loudly, which strangely catches my attention out of everything else.

"Isn't that girl behind us the jerk who picked on Lisanna?"

Wait, her name isn't Lasagna?

The shorty neither denies nor confirms her friend's question, making me realize she genuinely believes I am a bully, or at least is considering the possibility.

Alright, Lucy, it's okay. You've been called worse than that by a lot of people. What's one more?

"Oh my gosh, how many times do I have to tell you?! She is _not_ a bully!" Lisanna 'defends' me. It's obvious to me that she's just doing it to appear like an angel or something. "I bumped into her and she got a little upset; that's all."

Levy finally speaks up, but it's far from my liking. "Alright. Lisanna? You need to stop. How come you can't just accept the fact that not everyone is nice? Stand up for yourself a little!"

"I'm not saying everybody is nice, but Lucy just doesn't seem like that kind of person!" The white-haired girl replies, ticking me off. Who does she think she is, pretending to know anything about me?

"Forget whatever image you previously had of her. If she does something unnecessarily mean, that changes everything. You've always been soft-hearted, but this is going too far."

As they bicker back and forth about me, my breath catches at the unfamiliarity of it all. Never before have I been gossiped about. Of course people have talked bad about me, but not like this.

This is a much worse feeling. I wonder why...

* * *

Collapsing into my seat, it doesn't even bother me that Gildarts is holding a sword, or that all the boys are being really rowdy.

The only thing I notice is that Levy just flat out glared at me. Not just a little one either, but she literally glowered at me. There was hate in the air. Maybe it's the depressing music coming through my headphones, but for whatever reason there's a lump in my throat. Closing my eyes, I drop my head on my desk. Something's wrong with me.

Whatever's going on in this room must not be important, because nobody's called me out for ignoring the class.

Sighing quietly, my fingers idly twirl a few strands of blonde hair. Can't this rotten school just.. I don't know. Explode or something? At the very least, give us a break once in a while.

My mind still can't wrap around the fact that I'm obediently-albeit reluctantly-sitting here in a fricken school. I swore to myself I'd never step into a place like this ever again.

And I shouldn't have broken that promise. Everyday is a battle against myself, fighting these strange emotions that are coming out of nowhere. If it were possible, I would take back ever meeting Gildarts, Levy and even Natsu and Gray. Those boys seem to keep popping up, for whatever reason. I don't even know them…

"Does anyone else want to give it a try?"

At Gildarts' question, my mind re-focuses on everything around me. Blinking in adjustment to the harsh lighting, I slowly raise my head. What happened while I was zoned out?

"Lucy; perfect. Get up here and try using the sword."

Uh oh. The enemy just called me for something. Sitting up properly this time, I cross my arms and hold back any form of response. It's easier in the long run if we don't get into an argument. Besides, I don't want him thinking he's free to talk with me like buddies.

The ginger places a hand on his hip and beckons me with the other. "Come on, you're pretty much the only one left."

Before I can even think of a way to effectively make him leave me alone, someone else speaks up.

"You want to let that jerk use a sword?! That's probably more dangerous than giving it to Erza!"

Glowering at the girl, my mind instantly fills with murderous thoughts. The gossip is now going public, apparently.

Gildarts doesn't know what's going on, it seems. Laughing his butt off, he walks over and grabs my arm. "You read my mind-and that's exactly why Lucy here _is_ going to test it out. Danger is what makes life exciting."

As soon as his fingers touch my arm, even through my jacket, my heart gives a thud that makes me wince. He doesn't notice, and also doesn't let go. Glaring up at him, I stubbornly cross my arms with him still gripping one.

A few idiots start muttering about me always causing problems, which only strengthens my anger. I must seem like such a brat to everyone else, and it's all because of this piece of crap.

Gildarts doesn't seem to want to stand around all day, as he literally drags me out of my seat and up to the front of the room. I put in a bit of effort to stop him, but that hand is making me lose my concentration. All I want to do is hide in my room.

"In case you missed it," he says while shoving the sword into my hand, "all you're doing is giving a few swings."

Narrowing my eyes, my grip tightens around the handle. "Get your hand off my arm, old man."

The guy doesn't have any idea how much it's killing me not to punch him. He has the nerve to grin, like this is all a joke.

It's not. As soon as my arm is free, the sword drops on the ground. No way in heck am I putting up with this garbage.

"Don't be so careless with sharp weapons like this." Gildarts reprimands me, making me snort.

"Oh, so you're allowed to yell at me for _not_ using a sword?" Good, I still have my sarcasm. At least no one can take _that_ away.

"Can we leave now?" Gray interrupts our stare-down, followed by other complaints. As I smirk at Gildarts, he crosses his arms.

"Class is dismissed."

The usual bustle is made as everyone hurries to pack up for lunch, but when I try heading back to my seat Gildarts fricken grabs me _again_! I shrug my shoulder away, but it's no use.

My eyes narrow, shooting anger straight into his soul, but he must be used to it because instead of letting go, he just pulls me to his desk. I can see everyone leaving, especially the boys. As they walk by, Gray catches my eyes and gives me a glare.

Glaring back, I cross my arms in frustration. It's not like I'm doing this on purpose! If Gildarts would just leave me be, there wouldn't be any problems.

With the classroom empty, my heart starts beating faster. What's he gonna do now? Is he seriously mad about this? My eyes dart frantically around the room, searching for a way out. But the only way out is the door, which is now closed.

He could crush anything with that build, and right now I'm just praying I'm not the target. My breath is getting shallower, although I'm doing my best to hide it.

Gildarts takes a few steps away from me so I can directly look at him. His hand goes up and my heart stops. In a sudden move his hand reaches towards me and without thinking my arms shoot up in a desperate move of self-defense.

* * *

My cheeks still flush when I think about what happened earlier. But how was I to know he was just swatting a fly?! I didn't even see one buzzing around, so of course I'm gonna jump to conclusions. In fact, _he's _the one at fault. And to think he didn't even have any reason for making me stay late… The guy is dead meat if he wastes my time like that again. Well anyways, at least he didn't notice anything. Although it's a little weird he didn't see my arms go up… Guess he's stupider than I thought.

Most of the tables in the lunch room are full already, but it's never mattered since I sit in the back. By myself. Alone.

As my bag drops onto the table with a loud thump, I feel something else go thump as well.

Headaches suck. I don't know about other people, but they hit me out of nowhere. Like seriously; I'll just be minding my own business when _bam! _It comes and knocks me out for the rest of the day.

Today is no different. Struggling not to collapse from dizziness, I immediately get to my feet and rush for the nurse's room. Dunno where it is, but someone'll probably be able to point me in the right direction.

Seems I'm in luck. Just when I'm about to fall over, I see Gildarts' gang hanging out by the door per usual.

"Oi, color-wonder. Know where the doctor place is?"

Gray frowns. "You mean the hospital?"

Great. He's an idiot. Groaning at a sudden wave of pain, I turn to the next boy. "Do you? Seriously, I'm kinda in a hurry."

Turns out to be Natsu. He raises a brow and steps towards me. "If you're looking for Mirajane's office, it's down the hall and to the left. Are you okay?"

I'm unable to hold back a sarcastic reply. "Yeah, I'm just over here freakin' _pretending_ to have a migraine for the heck of it."

With that said I stagger down the hall, not wanting to see their idiotic faces anymore. Trust a guy to ask the obvious. My face turns into a scowl. Do I _look_ okay?

Down the hall and to the left… Down the hall and to the left… Dang, it's hard to concentrate. What was it again? Ouch… I rub my temple. I'm not used to having to walk around with a headache. All the hallways are empty and there's no sign showing where that stupid nurse is. I'm just gonna have to bear with it until school's out, it seems.

Someone grabs my arm right when I'm about to hit the floor, and just that makes my skin crawl. Even in my spinning world my foot sends a kick at the insolent guy who dared touch me.

"What the frick, man?" the person shouts, making me wince.

"Shut… up... " I manage to mutter through gritted teeth. It's been a while since I had a headache this bad, and it's coming back strong. I just want to pass out and get some peace.

I feel the guy hoist me to my feet, probably reluctantly after my well-aimed kick. I'd do it again but it's too much effort. If he wants to help, so be it. I'll pummel him later, when my eyes aren't seeing double of everything.

"Ow."

"That's a wall."

"Ouch!"

"That was my head!"

"Freakin' d-bag…"

"You're the one with a hard head, yankee!"

At long last I'm unceremoniously shoved into a bed.

"Mirajane, can you do something for me? Knock her out so no one has to hear her complain." My 'saviour' calls, and I crack an eye open in an attempt to see who he is.

Dang it, too late. As my vision finally goes out, a lady with shiny white hair walks towards me.

What's Lasagna doing here?

* * *

My eyes open to see a smiling lady standing next to my bed. I recognize her…

"Hey, you related to pasta-girl?"

She lets out a gentle laugh and places her hand on her hip. "Is that a nickname for someone?"

"What do you think, genius?"

Unfazed by my attitude, she continues smiling. "Actually Lisanna Strauss is my sister. Do you know her?"

Snorting, I turn my back to her. "Yeah, you could say that."

"Isn't she just the cutest?" she exclaims, making me wince.

I figured that was just her talking to herself, but now there's an awkward silence. Does she honestly expect an answer?

"It's okay, I'm speechless too when it comes to Lisanna!"

Apparently not. Over the next few minutes-but what seems like hours-pasta-girl's older sis rambles on and on about her. Her high-pitched voice could probably break glass. It's even more painful since the medicine is wearing off.

"Lady, shut up already." I finally snap, rolling over to face her. "Don't you have something better to do than sit here babbling about your sister? Trust me; I don't give a crap about your messed up sister complex."

Instead of leaving, she sits down in a chair beside the bed. "We can talk about something else if you'd like. I'm Mirajane, by the way."

Just how long does she plan on hanging around? Holding back a growl, I stubbornly refuse to acknowledge her anymore. Does she not know how to catch a hint? Seems she's just as much of an airhead as her sister.

"Do you need to be home by a certain time?"

Not really. In fact I might stay late just to piss off Jude.

"Well it's almost the fourth period, so if you have anywhere to be now is the time to tell me."

Why does she care?

"Oh yeah, Gildarts sent Natsu a little while ago to remind you that you have a class with him in a bit."

Dang. I can't ignore her anymore. "Why the heck am I still in here, anyways? It's just a fricken headache."

My back is to the lady, but I can hear her giggle. Yes, giggle. What is this, a cartoon?

"You could leave if you only had a headache, but you've got a fever as well. Normally I would send you home, but you fell asleep as soon as Natsu dropped you off."

"What, Natsu's the one who dragged me here?" I mumble, mostly to myself. It surprises me when Mirajane answers.

"That's right. He was raising a fuss like always but it was still nice of him."

Immediately my eyes snap towards the door and I crack my knuckles. That punk is gonna get it as soon as I'm outta here!

Still unfazed, Mirajane checks her watch and gets to her feet. "I'm going to give you another pain reliever. Once you get home I want you to stay in bed for the next few days, understand? And don't worry, I'll take care of your note of absence."

Unresponsive, I just sit up on the edge of the bed, impatient to get out of here. As Mirajane goes about getting a pill, I realize that one tolerable thing about the nurse is that she doesn't force answers out of me, unlike most people.

She hands me the pill and a glass of water and I swallow both quickly. Shuddering as the slimy concoction slips down my throat, I wait for my stomach to settle before getting up.

"Come back if you start feeling sick again!" I just catch Mirajane's call before I slam the door shut.

* * *

"There she is!" Natsu shouts, making me wince.

"Shut your friggin mouth before I punch you." I mutter grumpily. This guy always manages to put me in a bad mood.

As I close the door behind me, Gildarts taps the table he and Natsu are sitting at. "Oi, is that anyways to thank him for saving your life?"

Snorting, I ignore his beckon and sit at a different table. "He didn't do nothin' to save my life. It was just a headache."

"He didn't do _anything_."

"Don't tell me how to talk, old man." Goodness knows I'm getting enough of that already.

Natsu drops his head on the table. "Can we just get on with it please? I don't wanna listen to you two arguing for an hour."

Yeah, like he's one to talk. "I'm not arguing, stupid."

"Yeah you are, dummy."

"Shut up, barbie."

"It's salmon!"

"You trying to say I don't know what pink is?!"

"Hey, you said it. But didn't you drop out of Kindergarten? Or did they flunk you?"

My eyes widen. "What'd you say? You really wanna fight, don't you?!"

"Hey!" Gildarts shouts, interrupting whatever Natsu was going to say back. "Cut it out, guys! You're here to learn, not kill each other."

Turning my head pointedly, I refuse to look at that pink-headed demon. "Nice job, Gildarts. You're raising some real gentlemen, aren't you."

As Gildarts keeps Natsu from jumping on me, I pull my headphones out. Placing them over my ears, a smirk reaches my face when all the noise stops. My music starts and I settle back to watch the show.

Gildarts says something to me but since I can't hear him it doesn't matter. He walks over to me so I close my eyes.

All of a sudden my music stops and the headphones are pulled off my ears. My eyes snap open to glare at the man in front of me.

"What the frick?"

"Both of you brats owe each other an apology, got it?"

Snorting, I snatch my headphones back. "Yeah… I don't think so, _teacher._"

Before I can put them on again though, Gildarts has the nerve to take my phone.

My phone.

The one thing important to me in this world.

"Don't touch that!" Slamming my hand into his chest, I grab my belongings and run for it before he can retaliate.

I barely hear him yell at me as I make a mad dash through the hallway. The random students here and there give me weird looks but it doesn't matter.

All that matters is that I get out of here before everything I care about is taken from me.

* * *

Once I'm out of the school and realize he isn't following, my pace slows down until I'm walking normally. My chest feels tight and it's hard to breath right. I don't know what's going on, even though I'm the one who did it. I thought it was about my phone, but something's telling me that's not all.

A honking car makes me jump and pulls me out of my daze.

"Holy cow!" My shout barely cuts through the dense fog that's making it hard to see as cars swerve dangerously close to me. How on earth did I end up in the middle of the street?!

With no time to think, my legs automatically move towards the sidewalk. A numbness is spreading through my brain, proving miracles do exist when I finally collapse on the safety of the sidewalk.

It takes a few moments to calm my rapid heart beat and another few to stop my legs from trembling. My breath is ragged, both from the recent cross with death and my escape from school. Also, my body is weak from whatever illness I've got. But it's comforting to think that things can't really get worse.

As if God was just waiting for the perfect time, a small sprinkle starts.

After a few minutes it turns into a steady downpour, soaking me to the bone. "Great," I mutter. "Thanks a lot, you jerk! Good grief, this isn't a Hallmark movie!"

My jacket isn't much good in the rain, it seems. Can't even keep me warm. And to make things worse, I realize that my fever's probably gonna kill me once I'm home, thanks to the weather.

As my feet slowly trudge down the path home, a little thought nags the back of my mind.

Isn't Gildarts going to call Jude like he threatened?

No, he wouldn't. That guy might be an idiotic, nosy old geezer, but he's not a complete jerk.

But he doesn't know what Jude would do if he _does_ call. All he knows is I skipped out on him.

Crud. My pace quickens to a run, splashing water everywhere, including me. Squinting, I struggle to see where I'm going in this mess. The only thing keeping me from running into the street is the constant honking coming from cars. Even the headlights can't cut through this fog.

How much farther? It's gonna be too late at this point!

All of a sudden my feet slide out from under me. "Ouch!"

Slowly getting to my feet, I catch sight of the mansion. I mean it's a fricken mansion, kinda hard to miss. That's enough to make me jump to my feet and start running. After all, my life practically hangs in the balance.

I finally burst through the front door, ready to collapse. But just as my legs are about to give, a voice comes from around the corner.

"Yes, this is the Heartfilia residence. What can I help you with?"

Shoot! With the last of my strength, I weakly hobble over to where a maid is speaking on the phone. I _know_ she's talking to Gildarts!

"You'd like to speak with Mr. Heartfilia?"

Immediately I start waving my arms and making gestures, from pleading to threatening to kill her. She must have gotten my message, but she probably has no clue why I care about this phone call.

"Ah, so you're Lucy's teacher from Fairy Tail High."

My breath comes out slowly with relief. Thank goodness she's at least one of the girls who drops the honorifics off my name. That'll spare me of any embarrassment at least.

She glances at me, shrugging her shoulders.

"Crap. Umm…" I start looking around for a piece of paper.

"I'll see what I can do, sir."

Lucy, you idiot! Mentally kicking myself, I yank out my phone and start rapidly typing. It's a brief message that'll have to do for now, explaining that Jude can't talk to my teacher.

The maid shoots me a questioning glance, and my heartbeat quickens as I pray for her to understand my position.

"I'm sorry sir, Mr. Heartfilia is busy at the moment. Would you like to speak with Lucy instead?"

My jaw hits the floor. What did she just say?! Before I can yell at her though, the phone is shoved at me and I instinctively grab it. Shooting her a murderous glare, I reluctantly hold the phone to my ear.

"Long time no see, old man."

No response. "What's the matter, can't you hear me?"

Finally he decides to speak. "_Lucy, give the phone to your dad."_

"You heard the girl; he's busy." Despite the precarious situation I can't resist a bit of sarcasm. He deserves it anyways.

"_Look, you broke the deal. I warned you what would happen, didn't I? Now hand it over, kid."_

Chuckling grimly, I kick off my shoes and head upstairs. "I'm a very sick person right now, so by all rights I shouldn't have had to go to class in the first place." This is followed by an obviously fake cough.

"_At most you're gonna be grounded, right? So don't make it worse on yourself by dragging it out." _

Grounded? That's just the kind of power Jude _doesn't _have over me. Killing me, however… I growl under my breath. "It's none of your business why I don't want you talking to him. Don't go assuming stuff, idiot. Anyways, you're being completely unfair. I ditch for one class and you pick up your phone? That's just cruel."

I can hear him give a sigh. "_You're missing the point. It's your attitude about the whole situation that's getting you into trouble. Have you forgotten the hissy fit you threw when I confiscated your phone?" _

"It's your fault! You shouldn't have touched it!"

"_I swear, kids these days value their phones over their own lives."_

At that comment, my face turns red with frustration. "Don't you dare lump me together with everyone else! Have you ever thought maybe I have my _own_ fricken reasons? Idiot!"

"_That aside, you don't seem to think what you did was wrong."_

This conversation is going nowhere. Dropping onto my bed, that killer headache from before starts to come back, no surprise there. "Hey, you know what? You're getting off easy today. I'll give you your freakin' apology, won't do nothin' stupid again and we'll part as unlikely friends."

Gildarts laughs hard enough for me to know it's genuine, pissing me off more than I already am. "_You're gonna apologize? Now that's unlikely. And you can't say you won't do 'nothing' stupid again because that's all you ever do."_

I'll kill him the next time I see him! "Oh, you think it's a joke? Moron. Stop you stupid goofing around when I'm being flat out serious."

He really doesn't understand anything. It's hard enough apologizing, but even more so to someone like _him_. But to survive another day, I've gotta do it. Because surviving is all that matters.

"Do we have a deal or not, old man?"

"_If you apologize to both me and Natsu for what happened today, I'll let you off the hook. But be warned; if it ever happens again, I'm driving over to your house and meeting with your parents in person."_

"Fine." I take a slow breath. "Sorry." Alright, so maybe that was a _little_ bit of a mumble, but he knows what I said.

"_Excuse me?"_

"I'm not saying it twice."

"_Wait, did you say something?"_

"I fricken hate your guts."

"_That's not very nice."_

He's going to _die!_

As if reading my thoughts, Gildarts chuckles. _"Alright, enough of this crap. I'll wipe the slate this time, but one more stunt and you know what'll happen." _I can just see his stupid smirk.

"Whatever."

"_Brat. Anyways, assuming you got Mira's message about staying home, I'll see you after class in a few days. Don't be late."_

It takes all my willpower to bite back a snippy comment. He's already pissed as it is. Instead, I hang up without replying.

"Miss Lucy, would you please explain what's going on?"

Sighing wearily, I mourn the fact that I'm so exhausted physically and mentally that it's not even an option to start a fight with this girl. In fact, I'm five seconds away from thanking her for saving my life.

"Nothing."

Her face tells me she's dying to know, but my head's killing me as it is, and my legs are trembling just holding me up. With a grimace, I grab my bag and head upstairs.

"Thanks."

If she didn't catch that, it doesn't matter. If she did, let's hope she doesn't think I'm going soft.

In my room, I slip into a hoodie, shivering violently. The lights are off and the shades are pulled in attempt to ease my headache, so once I'm warm I stumble over to my bed.

Someone could probably hear my heart pounding from underneath the covers if they were in my room.

So Gildarts is willing to forgive and forget. Was it worth everything I went through today? Definitely.

Why? Because I'm gonna live to see another day. That's all that matters to me.

* * *

**Thanks for reading :)**

**God Bless!**


	6. Chapter 6

**No way, I'm back from the dead! Sorry for the long wait you guys!**

**Okay so I used to write in a journal all the time a while back, and a few weeks ago I found it and decided to test it out again. But I've been writing in first person for so long as Lucy that I unconsciously wrote in Lucy-style! Haha, every other word was something along the lines of 'fricken', or 'stupid', and I sounded so depressed and hateful. If a random person read it, they'd get some bad thoughts about me lol. **

**So today's song is Breathe Me by Sia. Enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

"It's ten o'clock, Lucy."

Over the years, I've seen a lot of people come and go.

"Your class started an _hour_ ago."

At least, that's what I told myself.

"Did you really think I wouldn't find out if you skipped school?"

In reality, I'm the one who's always coming and going.

"Did you?!"

Now my time's up. I'll be leaving again pretty soon.

* * *

Every few seconds a squeak comes from the floor as my wet sneakers slide down the hallway. I can hear water dripping from my clothes; someone's probably gonna slip on those puddles.

Standing in front of the classroom, I grab the handle. Do I go in? A humorless chuckle escapes my lips. That question shouldn't even be crossing my mind right now. My hand tightens around the door handle, probably showing white knuckles.

There's no choice now. But as I'm about to open the door, it swings open on its own. Jumping back in surprise, I stare into a pair of dark eyes.

"You?" Gildarts says with very little enthusiasm. Guess that makes two of us.

"Yeah, me. Got a problem with that?"

He doesn't answer and starts walking down the hallway, jerking his head for me to follow. As we walk to wherever the heck we're going and I wonder why neither of us are in class, he makes a turn into a classroom.

Well I shouldn't be so surprised to see all of my classmates in there. Gildarts points me to a seat in the back.

"There was a little accident earlier so we had to move in here. Lucky I caught you while getting my books."

Taking my seat, I settle back. What happened? It couldn't have been very traumatizing, since everyone else is acting completely normal. The girls are taking notes, the boys aren't paying attention, and Gildarts is talking about something slightly educational.

Speaking of Gildarts, he's being surprisingly tolerant of me. I mean yesterday was pretty tense even for me, so why is he acting like usual?

I dunno. Maybe it's just my fever thinking or something. I'm kinda out of it right now anyways.

"Anyone do their homework this time? Natsu, I'm looking at you."

At Gildarts' question, a lot of kids raise their hands, including Natsu.

I just realized that Gildarts hasn't picked on me in a while. I mean he has, but not at the end of class for not doing my homework. Probably because he found a worse way of torturing me, like forcing me to do an extra class.

Well he'll be glad to know that my homework is at least taken out of my backpack. Sometimes it's used for scrap paper, so at least I'm recycling.

While Gildarts collects everyone's papers, I keep an eye on Levy and her friends. Purely out of boredom, honestly.

"How'd your meeting go, Erza?"

Erza? Why does that name sound familiar?

"Hm, I suppose it went okay. I can probably stay for the rest of the semester."

Oh, that's the redhead Levy kept mentioning. I never noticed her until the past few weeks. Did she join late like me?

Levy gives Erza a hug, while the other girls spout excited nonsense.

"Hey, it's better than what he'd originally said, right? That's awesome!" Lisanna says, smiling. I keep forgetting how much she ticks me off. Everything she does gets on my nerve.

None of this is making sense, so I prepare to leave for lunch. However, Gildarts seems to have other plans. As he pulls me away from the door, my eyes drift to the clock. Is he fricken serious? I'm gonna miss lunch!

With the classroom almost empty, I get a sense of deja vu. The last thing I need is another heart attack like yesterday.

"What are you doing here, kid?"

Well at least he got straight to the point. I can't stand for too long without getting dizzy, so there's no time for goofing around.

"Aren't you happy I came to school?" Sarcasm; the one thing I can't get rid of no matter how hard I try.

Gildarts frowns. "Mira told you to stay home for the next few days."

"Wrong. She said stay home until I'm better. So here I am."

"Assuming I actually believed that you're not sick anymore, why come? You could have easily pretended you were still sick, since you hate it here. What's really going on?"

Shoot, I'm starting to see double. "I'm here for school and stuff, so stop treating me like a criminal and leave me alone!"

I've gotta get out of here. Jude-no, Gildarts-is staring at my face. Why is he doing that? "Don't stare like that, you creep!"

He doesn't say anything, just drops the conversation and gestures for me to leave the room. I can't last much longer anyways, so there's no reason to complain. Snatching my bag from the floor, I immediately make a dash for the bathroom.

* * *

Shuddering, my fingers grip the toilet seat. As disgusting as that seems, it's not exactly my top priority right now. Instead, I'm trying to stop my stomach from emptying everything inside it. There wasn't much already, but now it feels like I'm gonna fricken die. Plus my throat is burning like hell.

I manage to stumble out of the stall and over to the sinks, thankful that the bathroom is empty for once. At a time like this, my fist might actually kill whatever airhead wanders in here.

It's gonna take a while for the taste of bile to leave my mouth, unfortunately. Still, I continue swishing water around in my mouth. Occasionally my eyes shift up to look at my pitiful reflection. I couldn't look more like a hung-over brat than now.

By the third look though, my mouth drops open, letting water dribble down my chin.

"Holy crap…"

How the hell did I miss the freakin' bruise?!

* * *

I cleaned up the little bit of dried blood from around my eye, but the real issue is the purple area. My bangs weren't long enough to cover everything. Back when this was a recurring issue I didn't feel the need to hide anything, but now things are more complicated.

Groaning, I run my fingers through my hair, sitting at my lonesome table. Jude's not an idiot when it comes to money, so why'd he do that? Doesn't he know the risks of getting caught?

Twelve twenty-five. Still another half hour to go. My head hurts, my eye hurts, and I still wanna throw up. Basically today sucks.

It seems there's gonna be some explaining to do later on. I mean Gildarts is an idiot, but he'll take any opportunity to antagonize me. Ah well. He'll believe me if I say I got into a fight with some kids in my neighborhood or something.

There's nothing for lunch today, thanks to money-bag's new house rule. It's official; I'm banned from the kitchen.

My stomach growls in response to thinking about food, and my head drops onto the table with depression.

"Hey, flunkie, why aren't you eating?"

Good grief, what the heck did I do in my past life?!

"Look, I just want to apologize for being a jerk yesterday. I don't normally talk like that, especially to a girl. Sorry."

I stare at Natsu. He's got the nerve to apologize because I'm a freakin' _girl_?! There's nothing I can say to that.

Apparently he's decided to take my silence as acceptance. Walking over until he's standing right next to me, the boy grins. "Let's restart, okay?"

What the frick is wrong with him?

"I'm Natsu Dragneel, nice to meet you."

When I don't respond, he scratches his head. "Maybe it's a little weird for you to just forgive and forget, but that's how I work. Anyways, see ya later."

He gives a small wave and walks away, heading for a table his friends are sitting at.

Snorting, I put my head back on the table. If he wants to pretend to be friends, fine. I don't care what he does, but he better not expect me to play along.

Oh my gosh this stomach ache is about to freaking kill me. Dashing out of the lunch room with my bag, I head for the nurse's office, or at least where I think it is.

* * *

Down the hall and to the left. That much I remember.

Okay, now there's two options. Left or right.

Having chosen the latter option, I'm relieved to see a sign reading 'First Aid'.

When I open the door, the white-haired lady from yesterday is sitting at a desk. She looks up and I guess she must recognize me because her face is hilarious.

"What are you doing here?"

Staggering over to the bed, a sigh escapes me when I finally sit down. After regaining my breath, I turn to scowl at her.

"Does it look like I'm here for a chat? Just give me some medicine."

What's-her-face walks over to me and feels my head. Her hand doesn't make me flinch, surprisingly.

"You're burning up. I told you to stay home, Lucy." She says sternly, blue eyes staring into mine. It feels uncomfortable.

"Not your problem, lady. Besides, it's just a headache."

Yesterday she was all smiles and giggles. Why's she so serious today? She gives me a few pills again, which I gladly swallow. As I wash it down with some water, the nurse starts scratching something on a slip of paper.

Wiping my mouth, I stare at her with suspicion.

When she's done, the paper is handed to me in a sealed envelope. "This is for your parents."

"What's it say?"

"Just some medical reasons not to allow you here. Not only is it dangerous for you, but it also puts the other students at risk of catching whatever bug you have."

Rolling my eyes, I stuff the note in my pocket. "If they cared about that I wouldn't be here, now would I?"

The nurse stares at me for a few seconds. Finally she turns away. "Call your parents; have one of them pick you up. Meanwhile, let me give you an actual check-up while you're here."

I pull out my phone and raise an eyebrow. "Why? Are you even allowed to do that?"

"I am a real doctor, believe it or not." She laughs again. Guess she's back to normal. "And I just want to make sure there's no serious illness in your body. Besides, neither of us have anything else to do."

She'd probably flip if she knew that I've never had a real check-up. The only time I see a doctor is when I'm moved out of a home for getting beaten up. This is gonna be fun…

* * *

"Say 'ah'."

"No."

"That works too."

She shoves something down my throat, which hurts. What's the point of this, anyways? Because she's bored? I'll be bored no matter what, because Jude's not picking me up. He punched me just to get me here in the first place.

"Your throat's a little swollen. Does it hurt?"

"What do you think?" I mutter from behind the stick in my mouth.

As the nurse moves on to check my reflexes, my brain works rapidly to try and remember her name. Gildarts said 'Mira', but I could have sworn it was longer than that.

Ah well. It's not like I care anyways.

"That's a nasty bruise you've got there. What happened?"

Knew she'd get there eventually. Reaching up, my fingers cautiously touch the scabbing bruise. "If you've gotta know, some kid in my neighborhood picked a fight with me."

Mira-something's face contorts into a grimace. "Ouch. That had to have hurt! Here, let me treat it."

Putting a cream around my eye, she starts talking about when she was a kid. I automatically zone out.

What am I gonna do now? The nurse said she's not letting me walk home, but Jude started swearing at me when I told him what was going on. Could I just pretend he's here so she lets me out?

"Those were the good days", she says, followed by a laugh. What was she talking about?

"I feel bad for all the kids I beat up, but it was fun. And if I hadn't been such a demon, I wouldn't be a doctor today!"

Holy crap I think I missed a good story.

"Anyways, is your ride almost here? It's been nearly twenty minutes."

I blink. "Huh? Yeah, they're like a few minutes away."

Well a few minutes later, and my 'ride' still hasn't shown up. Not that I expected Jude to actually come, but it would have gotten me out of this crisis.

"Why don't you call them again, Lucy." The nurse/doctor says, after another five minutes. Sighing, I take my phone out. The only reason I'm pacifying this freak is because I need to stay on her good-ish side. I mean she's a freaking nurse; who knows what kinda stuff she could find out if she wanted to.

I start walking out the door, but before my free hand can even grab the door knob the lady shakes her head and motions for me to come back over to her.

"Please stay in here. It's nothing personal, I just want to keep an eye on you."

How is that not personal? Giving her an eyeroll, I reluctantly return to the bed. The phone buzzes a few times before Jude picks up. He's definitely pissed at me now.

"_What do you want?" _I hear him huff in an annoyed way. Back at you, douche.

"Are you almost here?"

"_I told you to stay there, Lucy. You're not coming home early; I don't care what that nurse said."_

This is killing me, not being able to yell around said nurse. Speaking of which, she can't hear what he's saying, right? I slide a few feet to the left.

"I _told_ you, the nurse isn't letting me go to class anyways. There's no point in staying." A quiet insult is added under my breath, in case the demon next to me is listening very carefully.

Jude goes on to explain in a _very_ dumbed down way that if I skip school, my grades will fall. If my grades fall, I won't be able to graduate. And if I don't graduate, he'll make me wish I wasn't born.

Once he's done ranting, I laugh, almost forgetting the person next to me. "I already do. I'm not pretending to be sick, so get your butt over here before people start spreading rumors."

He hangs up abruptly, leaving me to ponder whether or not he'll actually come.

"Do you not get along with your dad?"

Hm. How much of my phone call did she understand? Obviously enough to think that Jude is my dad.

"We get along fine. He's just tired lately," I lie with ease. "Also I usually walk home, so he's not used to having to pick me up."

She nods, hopefully believing my story. Well what can I say? I'm pretty good at it.

"It's rare meeting a teen who doesn't hate their parents these days, you know? Do you get along with your mom as well?"

That question's a little trickier to lie about. What do teens usually think of their moms? Faking a stretch, I hop off the bed. "Stop butting into my personal life. Besides, I'm too tired to think properly."

As I pace anxiously around the room, Mira sits at her desk and fills out some more papers. Probably some doctor stuff that I wouldn't understand.

Finally, a good fifteen minutes later, my phone buzzes. It's Jude, letting me know he's here. It's about time!

"My ride's here. Bye." Without thinking, the word 'bye' leaves my mouth as I practically dash out of the room. It's too late to take it back, and she probably didn't hear it anyways.

* * *

That sneaky liar didn't even come! Jumping out of the car, I nod a small, _small_ thanks to the maid who picked me up.

Inside, another maid hands me the house phone. I wedge it between my shoulder and ear, while taking my shoes off.

"_You are grounded to your room until tomorrow morning."_

"Wait, let me guess. Um… Jude?"

Jude growls into the phone. Yeah actually he has this disorder that makes him think he's a dog. Or a bear.

_"Don't bother asking the maids for dinner. Trying to sneak out will result in the loss of breakfast tomorrow, and that is assuming you don't already lose it due to your inappropriate language."_

"I commend you for your valiant, yet pointless attempt to control me. Oh, and the doctor's already suspicious about that nice little bruise you gave me, so you might wanna watch what you do for the next few days."

I expected him to hang up on me, but he's just being quiet. What's up with him?

"_What are you talking about?"_

Huh? What's _he_ talking about? "I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that and hang up."

My hesitant response is followed by a beep when I end the call.

That was weird.

* * *

The people here can be pretty stubborn when they want to be. I just spent the last fifteen minutes trying to convince this one guy to let me out. His willpower is almost on par with mine.

My stomach is killing me, and I'm pretty sure that can be taken literally. When was the last time I ate? Yesterday morning? Okay so I'm probably not dying yet, but it still kills.

Sleep is probably the only option if I wanna escape the pain. I'm in a bad mood anyways.

Turning the lights off and changing into more comfortable clothes, I pull on my headphones and scramble into my bed, wrapping myself in the big blanket.

Just like the old times.

* * *

What time is it? It's already dark out.

"Miss Lucy, Mr. Heartfilia has asked for you to see him in his office."

Guess it's around nine if that guy's already back. I turn my music up louder, grateful my door locks from the inside as well.

Now I can't hear the maid knocking. Serves her right; she should've given me some food earlier.

It's really cozy in here, when the lights are off. There's just something about it that makes me wanna stay in here forever. Pulling the covers over my head, I let the music drum into my head.

Burn in Hell, Jude.

* * *

I haven't had a nightmare for a few days. Now I'm finally getting enough sleep, which is always a plus.

Less good is the fact that the medicine wore off while I was asleep, but at least my headache is gone. And the fever is finally dying down, although my head spins when I stand up.

The door is unlocked today. Guess that means Jude wants me to go to school again. What did I expect? And now I know what he'll do to get me there. This time I'm not gonna try reasoning with him.

Jogging down the stairs, I sniff when my nose catches a delicious smell in the air.

In the dining room, I'm met with the most shocking sight I've seen in a long time.

Jude is sitting at the table, smiling. The thing that really catches my eye though is the fantastic setting of food in front of him.

Eggs, bacon, orange juice, toast, some other stuff I've never seen before. I didn't believe in Heaven until now.

"Good morning, Lucy."

Strange; there didn't seem to be any hint of sarcasm in his voice. Before he can turn nasty, I hurry over and grab a handful of bacon, practically shoving it down my throat. As I gulp it down, the two-faced weasel chuckles.

"How are you feeling?" He asks, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "Has your fever gone down?"

"I think you've got too much sugar in your coffee," I splutter, mouth still full of bacon. "What's with the sweet-talk, old man?"

He slowly raises a hand to stiffly wipe a piece of bacon off his shirt, making me smirk.

"I'm very sorry for grounding you, Lucy."

Tossing a bunch of pancakes onto a plate, I smirk. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

Wow, can't believe that old saying came in handy. Gildarts' classes might be worth a thing or two.

"I mean it. Although you have been misbehaving since you arrived here, that punishment was not necessary." Jude says, his cold eyes boring into me.

"You think you can play mind-tricks with me? You're talking to a pro when it comes to manipulation."

The atmosphere just got tense, making it hard to breathe properly.

Finally Jude breaks the heavy silence. "I am not manipulating you, I am apologizing. There is no reason to distrust anybody who is being earnest."

He's seriously pushing it.

"I've had people tell me they care about me while beating the crap outta me."

Jude's face turns stony.

"My mom left two things on the side of the road the day I was born. Me, and a note saying she loves me. So give me one good reason why I should trust _you_."

Silence.

"Who else are you going to trust?"

* * *

Today's going a lot better than yesterday. Gildarts hasn't bugged me about coming to school again, Mira's medicine has helped clear up my bruise, and Jude isn't anywhere near me.

He didn't bother telling me to come to school today; I'd do anything to get away from him right now, especially since he stayed home from work for whatever reason. In fact, he probably knew that which is why he did! Manipulating geezer trying to get me to go to school...

Lunch just ended, and now I have science. I haven't paid any attention to this class since there's a bunch of stuff you're supposed to know first, so I'm being forced to take a precursor class with some other flunks.

During said class, I manage to snag another fifteen minutes or so of sleep before the teacher catches me.

I don't know any of these kids, the teacher, or what the heck she's talking about. So _why_ am I here?

"Lisanna, you're late."

Hm, I know _this_ kid. Lifting my head marginally, I catch a glimpse of white hair as Lisanna hurries into the room. No way, she's stupider than I thought if she's here too! Wait, that kinda sucks for me...

"I'm sorry for getting here late, Mrs. Porlyusica! I totally forgot it starts today!" She babbles, taking a seat in the row in front of me.

The pink-haired old lady frowns disapprovingly but doesn't reprimand her. Now I'm pissed! She lectures me for ages because I took a fifteen minute nap, but this chick misses half the class and she doesn't say a word?! Where is the justice here?!

"I'd like one of you to tell me what a neutron is, please."

This class sucks.

Looking around in pure boredom, I'm surprised to see a little girl here as well. Blue hair; shocker. What does it take to find someone with normal colored hair?

Uuuugh, this can't be over soon enough! I know it was my choice to come today, but maybe it would've been better if I'd stayed home…

"_Who else are you going to trust?"_

Nah, I'm cool here.

* * *

Natsu and Gildarts look up when I walk through the door. The latter gives a grin, but Natsu actually scoots over to make room.

Walking over, I take a seat at the table, leaving a chair in-between me and pinkie.

"I'm don't know whether or not to say it's good to see you today, kid." Gildarts comments, handing me a book.

"How about you just start teaching? The sooner I learn this stuff, the sooner these stupid classes disappear."

Natsu laughs, probably still trying to befriend me. Not gonna work, buddy.

With a chuckle, my antagonizer pulls out a stack of identical books. "Natsu and I didn't get much done yesterday, aside from eating a bunch of candy, so you didn't miss anything important. Unless you count that as important."

Rolling my eyes, I scowl and bite back an insult. It's not worth it.

Gildarts opens his book to the first page. "Go on, open 'em up."

Having opened his own book, Natsu frowns at the first page. "This looks sorta like a dictionary."

I copy him, taking a look at the first page in _my_ book. He's right, although dictionaries are usually alphabetical, right?

"This is a vocabulary book. If you bothered to look at the cover, you'd know. It's a course called Wordly Wise." Gildarts informs my companion.

Sighing, my fingers tap impatiently against the plastic table. I just need to sit through an hour of this and I can go home.

Wait, I don't _want_ to go home… Why am I so impatient? This needs to drag out so I get home _later!_

As though hearing my inner argument, the annoying teacher grabs a pencil and opens a notebook.

"Actually, before we get into these, I want to make sure you two understand everything."

While he writes some stuff down, Natsu plays with his own pencil by doodling in his book and I fiddle with a scrap of paper leftover from the class that was here before us.

"Take a look."

Finally! At Gildarts' words, me and Natsu stare at the notebook shoved in front of us.

"Er…"

That's exactly what I was thinking, pinkie.

"This is a sentence."

"No duh, genius." I retort, my patience draining. "I thought you were teaching us _new_ stuff."

From his expression, it's easy to see Gildarts is running out of patience himself. Natsu looks bored out of his mind and personally I think all this is crap.

"We obviously don't work well together, old man. Can't you cut us loose?" If he gives in, I can just chill downtown all day instead of being cooped up in this stuffy classroom.

"Not a chance, kid. And drop the oh-so-subtle insult. Alright Natsu, can you tell me which word is the subject?" The dang teacher just continues like I didn't say anything!

Clueless as always, Natsu scratches his head in what I assume is frustration. I'd be frustrated too.

Gildarts frowns like the know-it-all that he is. "Do you know what a subject is?"

Pinkie shakes his head.

"What about you, Lucy?"

My silence is presumably taken as a no, because Gildarts sighs exasperatedly. "Did neither of you ever make it to school? Or is school too lame for punks like you?"

"I dropped out of middle school!" Natsu exclaims proudly, and I roll my eyes. Of course an idiot like him would think that's an accomplishment.

"I'm aware of that, Natsu. It was a rhetorical question. However, since you've now given leverage to this little demon, it's only fair you _both_ spill the beans."

Is he talking about me? My jaw drops. I didn't even think of that! Now I can totally get back at Natsu since he's a drop-out too!

"Lucy. Did you drop out as well?"

At Gildarts' question, I'm pulled out of my fantasy. "Er…"

"It's okay if you actually flunked Kindergarten, I was just messing around yesterday." Natsu chimes in.

Ugh, guess I've got no choice. If I cause any problems then Gildarts will call Jude or something.

"Just shut up, stupid. I didn't flunk Kindergarten." Oops, a little too harsh.

"So you went to school your whole life? No offense, but I would have thought you'd be kicked out eventually."

Scoffing, I look at Natsu with a glare. "I didn't say that, and no I wouldn't have."

"That's enough, you two. I don't need another fight now that you've supposedly made up." Gildarts interrupts our glaring contest, tapping the notebook. "Lucy, I'm just trying to get an idea of where you are academically, no need to get defensive."

My shoulders sink lower as I scowl at the man in front of me. Natsu and Gildarts can disappear with Jude for all I care. Why do they feel the need to stick their noses into everyone's business, huh?

"Whatever. If you've gotta know, Kindergarten is the only school I've been to. I didn't even finish it," I glare at Natsu. "And I did _not_ flunk."

There's a bit of silence, during which I wonder what they're thinking. Wait, I don't _care_ what they think.

"Well that explains a lot." Gildarts finally says.

That's all you've got to say? And what exactly is that supposed to _mean_?

"Now that we've got everything out in the open, let's start for real. We're going to learn the basics of sentence structure for now."

I swear, everyday these two get weirder and weirder.

So why do I want to stay?

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading! Btw I love all of your reviews, so thanks for those, and also for favoriting and following! :D**

**Please review! **

**God Bless :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**It's okay, you can yell at me for taking so long, as usual. This seems to be one of my weaker chapters, I dunno. As someone pointed out, I contradicted myself about when Lucy went to school as a child. Okay, _here's _the deal. She only went to Kindergarten, even though I said it was first grade or something in an earlier chapter. Sorry about that! **

**Do you have any idea how hard it is to write about someone who would obviously swear, _without_ swearing? **

**Also, a note I have to make is this; I'm not a professional writer. It's hard for me to look at the whole picture of things, and that includes this. I kinda just write whatever, you know? So I apologize if the story kind of drags on in places or something...**

**As always, thanks for favoriting, following, reviewing and reading! It's much appreciated :D **

**Chosen song for this chapter is Monster by Imagine Dragons**

* * *

Our science class is slowly getting more and more students. Apparently the real class is too hard for anyone to keep up with. Now I recognize half the students here, including Levy and her friends.

The teacher, whose name I can never remember, is freakin' scary, even for me. She doesn't tolerate any messing around, especially if the kids in question have a bad record. Like me.

"_Anyone caught napping will be sent to detention."_

"_Anyone who doesn't complete their homework will be sent to detention."_

"_Anyone doodling instead of taking notes will be sent to detention."_

"_Anyone who refuses to co-operate will be sent to detention."_

"_Anyone talking about an unrelated matter during class will be sent to detention."_

And that's how I ended up in detention with most of the class. It starts after school is over, so I already went to the _other_ extra classes with Gildarts and Natsu. Speaking of which, that fish-headed jerk never apologized for sticking gum in my hair the other day!

Today's punishment is setting up for a Christmas party. They don't care that it's ten degrees outside, we're still stuck putting up balloon figures.

I'm working in the front with Levy, Lisanna, Erza and some other girl while the boys hang the lights up.

Shivering, I stuff my hands in my hoodie pocket and step back to take a look at my work. Man, reindeer are more complicated than they appear. I can't help smiling a little at my accomplishment though.

"It looks good, Lucy." Levy comments, startling me.

My frown comes back. "Oh, you're talking to me now?"

She rolls her eyes and continues working on her Santa Claus cut out.

Once we're done, the other girls head inside but Levy stays behind and waves me over. Scowling, I stalk towards her. What does she want?

"Hey, um… I've been thinking…."

"Shocker."

She pouts but continues. "This fight's been going on for too long."

My jaw almost drops. "Did you forget who started it in the first place?"

"No," she shakes her head. "I admit that ignoring you is my fault, but you're the one who was mean to Lisanna in the first place!"

"Here we go again," I mutter and turn to go back inside. At this rate we'll just keep fighting.

I hear Levy give a huff from behind me but she doesn't stop me.

* * *

Jude already stopped his apology act from last week, so I haven't been eating very much aside from what I sneak out of the kitchen. With a growling stomach and a cold, I shuffle into the dining room and peek around the corner.

Darn it, some dude is standing watch. My stomach gives an even louder grumble and I mimic it with a heavy heart. No dinner today, it seems.

By the third week of this new 'game' I honestly tried to stop using these supposedly bad words, but ultimately failed. It's like telling a kid to stop laughing, or a baby to stop crying. Hopeless.

Alright, enough whining. Climbing up the stairs to my bedroom, my eyes dart to the heavy oak door to the left. Of course Jude isn't home, but still… He's been acting weird. It's like he forgot that he punched me or something, even though that's impossible. I know he remembers.

Anyways, maybe it's better this way. If he wants to pretend it didn't happen then things can go back to the way they were before.

While getting changing into a tee-shirt, I berate myself for acting like I wanna be here. But that's wrong; it's not here that I like, it's school. There, it's out in the open!

Natsu, Gildarts, even Levy; all the people at school are so different from what I'm used to, and it's time to admit that they're growing on me. It's entertaining to watch the teachers yell at the boys, or see the girls giggle over said animals. Gildarts can be annoying, but at least he gives a crap about me.

There's no way in heck I'm letting them know, though. A shudder comes over me just thinking about what would happen if they found out I don't _completely_ hate them.

I sigh, rearranging my big blanket to cover my toes. Life is too complicated as it is, without someone like Natsu getting a big head because I slightly enjoy hanging out with him. In my defense, that feeling was practically forced on me. Gildarts left me with no choice, always making me hang out with pinkie… I was just sick of always being miserable.

Yeah, that's it. I didn't have any other choice.

* * *

Like a bad dream, a mop of pink hair moves towards me. Scowling, I jerk the rope of lights in my hand so that the dangling part whacks Natsu in the face.

"My bad."

Rubbing his cheek, Natsu looks up at me with a frown. "Get off of that ladder and you're dead meat, jerk."

"Stay away from me and I'll stop rewriting your essays for the witch's class."

His jaw drops. "Is that why she's been giving me weird looks lately?!"

Shrugging, I step down from the ladder and wave to Erza that my side of the roof is done.

Natsu looks like he might actually be upset, making me pause in my task of tying ornaments on trees. "What? It's a class for failures anyways, so why does your grade matter? Nothing we do in there counts on record."

Kicking a snow-covered stone, he doesn't reply. With another shrug, I continue carrying out my punishment from said hag. Even though I'm already in detention, getting on her bad side is not something anybody wants.

Eventually Natsu leaves to help Gray carry in decorations or something from a teacher's car, and I finish up with the ornaments.

Shivering violently, I miserably realize that with the way detention has been going, I'll most likely have a non-stop cold until after Christmas, and that's assuming the pink-haired witch doesn't find some other outside job for us.

"Hot chocolate's over there." Lisanna informs me, pointing to a fold up table on the sidewalk. Ignoring her, I glance at our handiwork, spread throughout the entire front of the building. Balloons, lights, ornaments; if I didn't know any better I'd think the old sleigh-rider himself was stopping by.

"Great work, boys and girls!" A teacher calls from her car as she pulls away, surprising me a little. Most people shy away from us 'trouble kids', which is what the detention group is collectively known as. Some teachers know us as the 'troubled kids', a much more offensive nickname.

Once the day's chores are finished we tend to gather in an empty classroom to warm up for a bit and stuff. Plus the teacher in charge of us has to sign us out before we can leave.

"The party's only a week away," Levy excitedly announces. "It had better be worth all this work!"

Glancing at the boys, I see they're disengaged from the conversation as usual. It looks like they're crushing the foam cups we drank hot chocolate out of.

"Do you think we'll have to work during it or something? You know, since we're in detention…" Here comes Lisanna's pity party.

The teacher sets about reassuring her that the most we'll have to do is help with the clean up, which most kids do anyways.

Dang, Natsu just got his fingers crushed by the kid with the piercings.

I'm kind of on my own here. There are basically two groups, and both of them have sort of half-accepted me as a part of them. Gildarts' boys and Levy and her friends. I don't really mind. Not really.

"Oi, Lucy."

My eyes turn to glare at Gray. He doesn't seem to get the message and waves me over. Great, the idiots want a playmate...

Stalking over, I pull up a chair and lean my chin on my hand. "What do you want, color-wonder?"

"Color wonder?" He scowls but jerks his head over his shoulder. "Do you have enough girl in you to do a bit of sweet-talk?"

My face twists into a grimace. "What, you wanna chat with the chicks? Get your resident playboy to do it."

The orange-haired boy next to Gray pulls a face. "Oh shut up, blondie."

"Eh? You got a problem with me?" I retort, directing my naturally harsh gaze towards him.

He doesn't reply, just looks away, so Natsu speaks up, having recovered from his injury. "Loke doesn't like you since you turned him down."

I scoff. "Oh no, did I upset the little guy?"

Natsu laughs at that, while the gangster guy smirks a little.

"Anyways," Gray mutters, his face dusted with a shade of pink. "Can't you help a brother out? Er, I mean… Friend… No, that's not right. Classmate?"

What the frick…? With a mocking shake of my head, it's hopefully made clear to Gray that it won't be that easy.

A smirk slowly appears on his face. "You thought I wasn't prepared for this, punk?" He reaches into his pocket. Is this bribery?

"How's this?"

I slowly peer into his cupped hand.

Good grief, Gray… Snatching the candy bar I reluctantly get to my feet, shoving my hands into my pockets. If I wasn't so hungry he'd be dead for making a bogus offer like that.

As soon as the girls see me, Levy offers a little smile. "Hey…"

What'd he say? Sweet talk? Okay, I got this.

"Yo."

Darn it Lucy, you screwed up.

Lisanna, as usual, gives a big smile. "H!"

"Hello." Erza replies.

"What's up?" Man you suck at this.

"Not much. We were just talking about the party."

The shrimp is getting her nerves up, that's for sure. "What's it like?" I don't give a crap, but for the sake of conversation… I hide a shudder. Small talk is the worst.

"Oh right, you just transferred here. I mean not just, but… Yeah…" She trails off, so Lisanna takes over.

"It's really fun! I mean it's not that different from any other party, but everyone is your age here." She chuckles and continues. "Principal Makarov _always_ has this contest for the best costume, although it's really embarrassing to get picked… Also, the girls' winner never changes." At this she glances at Erza, who has been keeping silent the whole time.

The red-head looks like she was thinking about something serious. When she notices the three of us staring at her she frowns. "What is it?"

Lisanna pokes her in the shoulder. Was that supposed to hurt? "We were just talking about the costume contest!"

Smirking, Erza folds her arms. "Yes, it's true that I never lose when it comes to contests!"

I'm a little confused. "Didn't you just transfer here or something?" As I speak, my eyes meet Gray's, who is impatiently signalling for me to hurry up.

Levy gains her voice again. "Actually she's been here longer than us, but a lot of times personal issues force her to withdraw for a while."

It's hard not to yawn if your mind is constantly thinking about it. Seriously, is it magic? Great, I just yawned. "I'm too tired to stand." Sure you are. "Come on, we're sitting down over there."

The three girls blink at my command, and it hits me. Girls don't talk like that. "Ugh, you're so picky. Get your freaking butts over there before I kick 'em." Screw the sweet-talk.

Gray meets my eyes again, only this time there's a huge grin on his face. I squeeze a chair in between him and Loke to make room for the girls, who suddenly turned shy. Well, Erza doesn't look any different.

"Let me get this straight. None of you have girlfriends, and none of them have boyfriends?" I whisper to Gray, who nods.

"Dude, not to compliment you guys, but none of you are ugly or anything, and your classmates seem to like you. What's the hold up?"

He doesn't reply, just ignores me to greet Levy, annoyingly enough.

Alright, this is boring. I stare at Lisanna, who's oblivious to me since she can't take her eyes off of Natsu.

"Hey Natsu, what happened to your hand?" She questions, staring at Natsu's red fingers.

Her object of attention gives her a scowl. "Gajeel missed the cups and hit my hand."

Lisanna's mouth drops open. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Then she giggles. "I don't even know what that means! He missed the cups?"

Both sisters are bipolar.

While Natsu explains what happened to his white-haired companion, I shift my gaze to stare at a certain bookworm who, like her friend, is giving all her attention to a boy.

"So, um, Gajeel… Do you read much?" She hesitantly starts, looking down at the table. If she's scared of him why start a conversation?

So Gajeel is his name. I thought it was something like that. He never smiles, and now isn't an exception. Crap, that girl had better not ask me to rescue her or something. I'm not bailing her out if she gets scared.

"No." He almost looks upset at his own answer, but Levy doesn't notice because she's too much of a coward to fricken look at him.

They continue their 'conversation' in awkward silence, so I turn to where Erza and Gray are quietly holding a discussion about something.

"Why'd you join the student council, anyways?"

Erza sighs, her stern expression softening for just a second. "Principal Makarov told me that in order to graduate I have to make up for all the time I've lost."

"So basically he forced you into it?" Gray chuckles a little, differently than when he's just with the guys. "Jeez, Gramps sure knows how to get what he wants."

"Yes."

Boring, boring and more boring. All they're talking about is weird stuff I neither understand nor want to. Finally I collapse my head on the table, and open my eyes to absent-mindedly stare at the person next to me; Loke.

He doesn't acknowledge me and looks slightly past my head to where I'm pretty sure Natsu and Lisanna are sitting. Suddenly he takes his stupid fancy sunglasses off for a quick scratch, and I find myself staring into a pair of light blue eyes.

"Dude…"

This gets him to look at me with the scowl that's so popular today but I ignore it in favor of satisfying my boredom.

"What's up with your eyes?"

"As far as I know, nothing." He retorts, making me roll my _own_ eyes.

"They're freakin' cool, and that's not something I say everyday."

This causes his face to brighten up a little, and I can't help wondering why compliments mean so much to him. Is all his self-esteem held in his appearance? Remind me not to take notes from this guy, because my looks are nothing to brag about.

"Go ahead and head home now, but don't forget to come back tomorrow." Our teacher finally calls. Douche, acting like it's a sure thing we'll end up in detention again!

I glance at the other kids, who are still talking to one another. They don't make any sign of getting up, so without hesitation I grab my bag and head out the door.

The snow hits me like a punch to the face; trust me, that doesn't feel good. Seriously?! If those stupid little decorations blow away I _swear_ someone will be dead tomorrow!

It must have shocked those guys that I'm the first out, since usually I'll take any excuse just to stay late. Not today, though. Jude has been questioning me about why I'm always late recently. Lying isn't bad if it's a life or death situation, right? I mean if he found out I'm in detention he'd kill me. I lied, but that means coming up with some other excuse now. Too bad I forgot about that 'till now.

Muttering curses under my breath I stagger through the mountains of snow, hands freezing even inside of my fuzzy hoodie pocket. Holy crap I'm not even out of the parking lot and I'm about to die!

"Hot chocolate, hot shower with scalding water, a nice dinner, frick just a dry hoodie!" I mumble to myself, similar thoughts running through my head. How much farther? A mile or two? Geez, where'd this storm even come from?

I nearly collapse out of shock when a car blares it's horn right freaking next to me.

"What the frick, man?! Watch where you're using that thing!" I shout, knowing full well the person can't hear me with all this wind.

Suddenly the window of the SUV rolls down, making squeaks thanks to the snow covering it.

"Hop in, kid."

"Old man." I mutter but don't hesitate to slide into the passenger seat. Gildarts grins and continues driving, reaching over to turn up the heat.

On the main street now, we're caught up in the major traffic jam. "Dang it, what's up with the crazy weather?"

My grumbling goes unanswered by Gildarts, who knocks my feet off of the dashboard. "Sit up straight and get buckled or I'm kicking you out."

Rolling my eyes half-heartedly I reluctantly sit up. "Whatever. We're not even moving. Anyways, why are you leaving so late?"

"A student needed help with her math."

"Did you do it because she's hot or something?"

"You have brain damage."

My eyes shift to the window, even though it's impossible to see out of right now.

The car in front of us slides a little on the snow, and Gildarts screeches to a stop before we crash into them. "Oh yeah, where do you live?"

I point out of my window. "That street."

"Why didn't you say so sooner?" He exclaims, veering sharply to the right. "This is not the day to be driving around for no reason."

My street, being used by a bunch of rich people, is already plowed.

I can tell Gildarts is curious about the mansions but I don't feel like explaining my situation. "The one up there."

Our driveway is long and windy, but the old man ignores my command to drop me off at the bottom.

Sighing, I shoulder my backpack and hop out of the car. "Thanks."

He gives a nod but rolls the window down, so I wait impatiently. Jude's car is here.

"Are you walking to school tomorrow?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Come on kid, just answer the question."

Ugh, this guy is so freaking nosey. "Yes." I grumble, bounding from one foot to the other. "Can I go now?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just be ready by eight thirty tomorrow morning."

"Huh?"

Gildarts just grins and waves goodbye, shooing me off. I scowl back and dash around to the opposite side of the house. Does that mean he's picking me up or something?

On the back wall, I've learned to climb to my window with the help of a ladder found in the garage. Jude never goes outside except to get to his car, so I highly doubt he'll ever discover this.

With a little bit of scraping and cursing, I clamber through my window, making sure to slide it open slowly so it doesn't squeak.

* * *

My breath has barely slowed down when the door slams open.

"I swear, if yo-!" Jude's eyes narrow when he sees me lounging against my window sill.

Luckily my headphones are always handy. Having just jammed them over my ears I slide them off again. "What the frick are you doing in here?"

He sighs exasperatedly. "You are in a mountain of trouble, young lady. Do you expect me to believe you didn't hear me calling you at all?"

I blink. "What are you talking about? Oh, and get your dirty feet off of my carpet."

He purposely takes another step into my room, drawing a glare out of me. "I don't know what stunt you have pulled today but trust me, I will get to the bottom of it."

As an answer, I stubbornly yank the pair of neon green headphones back on my head. "Get lost, geezer."

Since there's no music actually playing, I hear his gruff reply. "I'll tell the maids to put the food away, since you will not be joining us tonight."

Once he's gone, I sink to the floor wearily. "Rotten old man…"

Sighing heavily, my frozen hands struggle to grab the soaked hoodie I'm wearing and yank it off. The next step is my sweats, which are easier to slip out of. The traffic was good for something; giving my clothes time to thaw out.

"Oh shut up…" I irritatedly mutter to my stomach, which is growling furiously in response to every move I make. "I'll feed you tomorrow."

That's right, they haven't let me eat in probably three days by now. Not too bad in it of itself, but it's made worse considering they haven't _actually_ let me eat for at least a week. All I've had are the little smidgens I've managed to sneak out of the kitchen here and there. Seriously, are they trying to kill me?! I thought these people were at least a little bit more civilized than the others.

Okay, time to take a look at my homework. Gildarts has been going easy on us during homeroom, but the hag who teaches us science is not a joke. Granted, she takes into consideration the fact that we're stuck with her for a reason, but it doesn't seem to help. Levy's probably the only one who can keep up with her, and she still ends up in detention.

Spreading my books across the floor I lay on my stomach and randomly choose one to work on.

Math. Alright, I can do that!

Five minutes later and my brain is already going numb. Solve for 'x'? What percent of fifty-three is seven?

Moving on. Ah, reading should be okay after all these classes with Gildarts.

He gave me a list of vocabulary to learn by the end of the week. Seems easy enough.

"Ambigu-o-oh-not that one. Let's see… Ackentuate? Crap, what was it again? We went over these earlier… "

I'd better try something else. Maybe science?

"Atoms are made of extremely tiny parti-particles called proto...protein-is that right?- neutral, and… electronics?" What is that supposed to mean?

Screw this. Rolling over, I nibble on my unused pencil, eyes closed.

"Gosh darn it, stop growling! I know I'm hungry!"

* * *

By eight o'clock the next morning, I feel too weak to get out of bed. Food is the only thing I can think about at this point. For Pete's sake I don't even know what day it is! Last night my stomach hurt so much I couldn't fall asleep.

However, my head is out of the clouds long enough to know that I'm supposed to be ready for something in thirty minutes. It's probably safe to assume Gildarts is picking me up, since that's the kind of guy he is.

Sticking my head out the window, it's a relief to see that the snow has stopped coming, although yesterday's flurry has left a lot of remnants. Plus the wind is still going like crazy.

Today is too cold for just a hoodie. Do I have any jackets? A glance in the closet tells me I do not.

Downstairs, I walk straight past the dining room, for once not checking to see if anyone is standing guard. The closet in the front hall always has a lot of coats in it, although I don't know whose they are.

A maid with stunning pink hair is standing next to the door. When I walk over, she smiles hesitantly, knowing how pissed I am with everyone there. In fact I think I've taken it out on her before.

"Can I help you?"

"Uh no, I think you've done enough by starving me."

After a moment's thought, I glance at the now-sulking girl. "Actually, I need to borrow one of these coats. Know who they belong to?"

She peers into the closet thoughtfully. "I believe they used to belong to Mr. Heartfilia's late wife."

"Sweet. She's dead, so it shouldn't matter if I take one."

I ignore her look of offense in favor of sorting through the multitude of jackets. It's not like dead people have feelings, and if she was alive I'm sure she wouldn't want me to freeze. Unless she was like her husband…

Settling with a plain black one, I yank it off the hanger and dash back upstairs.

* * *

A car honking at exactly eight thirty confirms my suspicion. Practically leaping down the stairs, backpack bouncing against my back, I struggle into my shoes and hurry outside, avoiding the drifts I accidentally found yesterday.

As I thought, Gildarts' familiar black car is pulled up to the door. Once I reach it, to my surprise Natsu comes out of the back and gestures for me to get in. "'Morning, Lucy."

"Yeah." I reply, seating myself next to a certain raven-haired boy, who glances at me for a second with tired eyes before leaning his head back against the window. Obviously Gray isn't a morning person.

As Natsu closes the door and Gildarts gives me a quick greeting while navigating out of the driveway, I turn around to see even more people in the backseat.

"Good morning!" Levy says with a brighter smile than yesterday. Seems she really meant what she said about making up.

Next to her is a brunette, who doesn't bother to look at me since she's too busy yelling at Loke, who's sitting in the front seat, peering around the seat to glare back at her.

As we drive down the road, Natsu stares in wonder at the fancy houses all around. "I wonder how many people could live in one of those mansions…"

Surprisingly enough, nobody has questioned me about my seemingly rich life. Are those manners, or do they honestly not care?

"So do you guys carpool a lot, or what?" I sullenly ask the pinkie next to me, a sudden onset of depression coming over me when I'm reminded of the pain in my empty gut.

He nods, but it's obvious he's distracted.

"Come on man, they're just houses. It's not like you've never seen one before."

Natsu chuckles, and I get a glimpse of flushed cheeks. "Yeah, yeah, I know… But still, I've always wanted to live in one. Imagine living in a house that big!" He notices my smirk.

"Er… I guess you don't have to imagine it...Uh… never mind. It's stupid anyways."

Shifting in my seat, I glance over my shoulder, catching the last glimpse of my current dwelling. "Nah, you get used to it pretty quickly. I thought it'd be cool at first too, but…"

My voice stops working mid-sentence. Jude punched me in the large bedroom I used to feel safe in. It's been months since my last meal in that stunning dining room. I used to take walks to the gardens, until a stern old maid found out and locked the gates.

"No, it's really not that great at all."

"Hm," Natsu mutters, upset that his fantasy was crushed so quickly. Sighing, I fold my arms, exhausted due to lying awake for most of the night.

Finally pulling into the school parking lot, me and the other kids pile out of the side doors. They stretch and let out loud yawns, shaking out their legs. How long have they been in the car?

"Wait up!" Gildarts calls, immediately drawing our attention.

"What's the one rule for riding with me?"

Levy raises her hand.

"Okay, two rules. First rule; don't raise your hand. This isn't a classroom."

He doesn't make us raise our hands in the classroom either…

"Second rule?"

"Do we have to do this every day?" Gray grumbles. What does that mean? Before I can come up with anything though, our driver/teacher pushes us into a line. Scowling, I feel a wave of relief that barely anyone is here yet.

"You're under my care the minute you step into my car, which means I take responsibility for anything you do. Got it?"

Loke yawns exaggeratedly. "Yeah, yeah, we know."

Gildarts smirks. "Good. Alright, worst is first. Cana?"

I watch as the brown-haired girl steps forward reluctantly, a sullen look on her face. Without hesitation he reaches into her bag and pulls out a glass bottle.

His jaw drops. "You didn't even try to hide it today?!"

"You're getting old, so I thought I'd make it easier for you." Cana answers with a shrug. I think I'm gonna like this girl.

Muttering under his breath, Gildarts moves on to inspect Gray's backpack.

Everyone passes the inspection, with the exception of Cana who is left in a bad mood thanks to her, what I'm assuming was beer, being confiscated.

* * *

In the classroom Levy meets up with her friends, and the boys hurry to their seats in the corner, talking about some new RPG game.

The classroom is suddenly separated into two sides again. I stand in the doorway for a second, not sure of where to go. The guys are always more fun, but the girls are a slightly less bunch of idiots.

Woah, what the heck am I thinking? You, Lucy, do not join groups. You stick to yourself and focus on getting through the day.

But didn't that kinda stop applying once I started hanging out with these guys?

Who are you kidding? It's not like they're your friends! Who would _want_ to hang out with such a jerk? You're a charity act, and Gildarts is probably the one who talked them into it.

Oh shut up. I need to stop talking to myself. With that being said-or thought-I stalk to my seat and go about my usual business. Like playing on my phone.

After a few minutes Gildarts walks in and gives his usual greeting, chatting with a few students before actually starting the class.

Today we're learning about how to conduct electricity with potatoes. I've given up trying to find a speck of sanity in here; everyone is nuts. And usually I'm the one who seems nuts for calling out the experiments that never fail to work.

* * *

"Come on Haru, hold it up higher so everyone can see."

Embarrassed, the boy stiffly raises his arms so that the shining lightbulb is visible to everyone in the room.

Gildarts gives a short speech on the science behind the experiment we've been working on for the past two hours and claps Haru on the back then continues walking amongst the multiple groups of teens. I was stuck with a bunch of idiots who, annoyingly enough, seem to have the same amount of education as me.

As soon as he walks over here the redhead does exactly what I knew he would do. I _knew_ he would start cracking up!

Wiping his eye dramatically, my obnoxious nuisance of a teacher leans over to get a better look at our creation, even though it's clear we got it wrong. Well, I say 'our', but the other girl is the only one who did anything, and by that I mean she took the fork and painstakingly etched pictures into every single potato. They're actually pretty good, for being what they are. Potato art.

"Now that I get a better look, these are pretty awesome! I like the detail, Kiki."

Our resident artist blushes and ducks her head, her current masterpiece put on hold. "Thanks." She mumbles quietly, while the other bums congratulate her as well, pulled out of their dull trances.

Once he's made it all the way around the room, Gildarts clears his throat loudly. "Now that you've gotten used to your tools, I've got an announcement to make."

A couple groans are quickly shushed with another cough from the teacher.

"As a part of your education, you'll be eating lunch in here today."

That's not too bad. I wouldn't mind not having to be around so many people at once.

"Before you get too excited, there's a flipside! The lights will be turned off! If you want to see what you're eating, you'll have to make a working lamp. This time I don't care who you work with."

Immediately following his speech, the room breaks into loud complaints and whining. Cana, whom I now recognize as one of Levy's friends, glares at anyone who meets her eyes. "You take my booze, and now you're saying I can't even eat in peace?!"

It's pretty obvious she doesn't like Gildarts, who is obviously amused as he sits and laughs to himself at his desk. "Time starts now." He shouts, flipping the light switch, effectively drowning us in immediate darkness since the shades were closed earlier thanks to a pesky flasher hanging around outside.

So far there's only one light in the room, and everyone is too stubborn to go ask if they can borrow it to work on their own lights. Well it doesn't really make a difference to me whether there's a light or not, because I have no lunch. As if I could possibly forget with my stomach freaking growling like a bear!

"Lucy, wanna join our group?" That sounds like Levy.

"Whatever." My reply sounds so weak in the roar of other voices as students either struggle with their potatoes or attempt to find their food.

Scooching my chair up to the clump of desks where Levy and her friends are, my eyes make use of the far away light to discern who's sitting where. Looks like Levy is to my right and Cana is on my other side. Besides them, I can't make out anything more than slightly darker lumps.

"Do we keep going or try eating?" Comes Lisanna's voice from across the table. When no one replies, Levy breaks the silence with a chuckle.

"My eyesight is bad as it is. Maybe we should just eat?"

This is a suggestion well-received by her friends, and they hurry to pull out their lunches, chatting about their different tastes.

As the person next to me crunches rather loudly on a mouthful of chips, her arm wraps around my neck. Immediately, without hesitation, my hand reaches up to grab her wrist with a vice-like grip and twist it away.

"Ow, what was that for?!" She splutters, barely making a din in the loud classroom.

I can almost picture her grimace, as she grumbles to herself.

"What happened?" That sounded like Erza.

"Your friend is being a creep," I snap, on edge after the sudden unwanted touching. "Tell her to keep her hands to herself!"

With a little huff, the blob that I'm assuming is Levy reaches behind my chair to grab the bag of chips from my attacker.

A crinkle is heard, then a sniff. "Cana!" Levy yells, handing the bag back as said girl laughs to herself, just like Gildarts did earlier.

Now that I think about it, there's a certain smell in the air that can only be one thing.

"I thought the old man took your booze?"

Now that Lisanna and Erza are catching on, it's easy to hear their distressed mumbles, the latter being more vocal about her opinion.

"Do you not realize I'm a member of the student council, Cana?" Man, the redhead sounds mad. Is this why everyone is so scared of her? Because there's a distinctive hint of murder in her voice.

"It's just for show, right? I mean you have no idea what you're doing!" The suspect retaliates against the accusations being thrown at her.

The girls make a collective sigh, probably tired of dealing with this. I get the feeling this is a recurring problem.

"Seriously, what was the point of that show earlier if you were just going to sneak the alcohol in through your lunch?"

Too bad it's too dark to see Cana's face after Lisanna's question, which was hurriedly asked before Erza could fire back a retort. The drinker is remaining suspiciously quiet, and even her friends don't seem to know why.

Well after that incident we stay silent for the rest of the hour, the others quietly eating their lunches, Levy at one point having a coughing fit.

As for me, I'm hungrier than ever yet too proud to ask for food. The cries of my stomach go unheard, although I'm not sure whether or not that's a good thing. My pride could probably kill me one way or another.

The instant it turns one o'clock, a moment witnessed by many eager teens staring at their phones, the light is turned on. All of us take a minute to blink and rub our eyes, some of the class clowns hiding underneath their desks.

"Wasn't that fun?" Gildarts calls from where he has apparently been eating with the boys. "Play time's over though. Hurry up to your next class before you get your butts kicked by 'Lady Porlyusica."

As each kid walks by the man who is now leaning against his desk, he gives them an enthusiastic high-five, whispering something to each of them. When it comes to be my turn and I accidentally return the high-five, he places a hand on my head for a brief moment. "I'll get you something to eat later."

As I follow the crowd down the hall, I scratch my head in confusion. How did he know I didn't bring lunch? Oh shoot, I forgot to yell at him for touching me!

* * *

After science I head to my reading class, for once beating Natsu since he had to stay behind to help the hag.

For the next hour we mostly just go over vocabulary words. I have a crappy memory, so we're stuck going over the same things as the past few days.

"See you later guys." Natsu calls, giving a stretch before jogging out of the classroom before he's late for detention. I feel a slight amount of jealousy watching him leave, since I'm still stuck in this classroom. Much against my will, the teacher in charge of detention told me to just join the other kids after this class.

Sighing, I lean back and stare at the ceiling. My stomach is so empty it's stealing whatever's in my brain to fill up. Say, isn't it odd that Jude still hasn't figured me out? He's dumb, but dumb enough to completely miss the fact that I've been getting home two hours late everyday? Seriously, it's been almost two weeks…

"Eat up." Gildarts says, jolting me out of my daze. My eyes slowly move down until I find myself staring at a white paper bag.

"McDonalds?"

He nods, shoving the bag a little closer. "Go on. I had a friend drop it off a few minutes ago."

The next few seconds are a twist of confusion. Taking the food will kill off the agonising pain of hunger, but it will also give the dang teacher the illusion that.. I don't know. He's allowed to help me, or something. He doesn't know a thing about me.

My stomach growls louder than ever, pushing Gildarts to give me an oddly stern look. "If you're starving yourself to lose weight, I'm going to report you to Mira."

I roll my eyes, jerking the bag in front of me and peering inside. A delicious smell meets my nose. How long has it been since I had real food? But first things first.

"I'm not starving myself, you moron."

"Then why haven't you been bringing lunch? Oh, and eat that before it gets cold."

Fingers slightly trembling with excitement, I reach into the bag and pull out the first sandwich, the heat radiating from it sending a flutter in my stomach. Without giving my head time to think it over, I tear the wrapping off and demolish it in, at most, ten seconds.

Gildarts' face as he watches me eat is exactly what I was afraid of. That's definitely the face of someone who thinks they're a hero. I mean yeah, he _did_ give me food, but it's not like we're friends. He's merely an inconvenience or, at times like this, slightly helpful.

Finished eating, I lick the grease off my fingers and lean back once more, his eyes following my every move.

"As I asked before, why haven't you been eating?"

A mere shrug isn't enough to throw him off, but it's all I can offer at the moment. What do I say?

"None of your business."

Crossing his arms, Gildarts looks straight at me. His serious modes are kind of scary, a word I'm not used to associating him with. "Whether I act like it or not, I'm your teacher. It _is _my business."

My eyes narrow. "People like you are the most annoying. You really think that being a teacher gives you the right to interfere with someone's life?"

Now it's his turn to frown. "And you think that being a jerk gives you the right to ignore everyone?"

"People wouldn't think I'm a jerk if they'd just stop trying to butt in! What does it take for you guys to realize that I want _nothing_ to do with you?!"

"You can't run away from the world, kid. For everything you say and do, someone needs to take responsibility." Unlike me, Gildarts remains calm, and his words sink into my head.

Looking away, I stubbornly refuse to answer. The sound of heavy sighing comes from where he's sitting.

"I'll drive you home now, since we're obviously not going to get anything done today."

I turn my head at that. "Seriously?"

He nods, finally grinning like usual. I never realized what a relief it is to have the normal Gildarts.

"I've got detention."

"I'll leave a note."

As we walk to the car, he starts chatting about the class earlier, startling me. What's with the casual talk?

"Oh. Don't you have a carpool?"

"I only drive them here. Erza-you met Erza right?-she drives a few back, and the others get picked up."

"Wait, she can drive?!"

A nod in response.

"Dude, she's like... Sixteen, right?" After all, we're in the same grade.

This time he shakes his head. "Didn't anyone tell you about how she got held back a few times?"

"I heard about when she withdrew or something."

"Anyways, she's actually eighteen. You really thought she was sixteen?" Gildarts gives a laugh, probably planning on telling everyone about this.

* * *

This time Gildarts made me get buckled before even starting the car. I do so less reluctantly than yesterday, although a growl escapes me when my jacket gets caught in the latch.

Even when the roads are slippery due to snow being packed down all day, the ginger teacher still has the nerve to glance at me.

"I get that it's cold and everything now, but I've never seen you wear anything but a hoodie, even when it was warmer out. Do you have an emotional attachment or something?"

I snort. "None of your business."

"Here we go again," Gildarts sighs. "It's just a question."

Argh, I'm an idiot! There's no reason to be so defensive! At this rate he'll seriously hate me, which isn't something I want. Wait, why not?

Screw this.

Putting an end to the silent car ride, we pull into my driveway, which Gildarts managed to find from memory.

"See you tomorrow, kid. Same time, okay?"

I shrug, eager to reach the safety of my room. "Whatever. See you, I guess."

He grins, waving cheerfully as he pulls away.

My face falls as soon as the car is out of sight. Turning around, I stare in misery at the mansion, which is covered with sparkling white powder.

Well, there's no putting it off. Jude isn't here now, anyways.

Stepping inside, ignoring the mat to tread snow all over the nice carpet, I make my way to the stairs. As usual, there's a maid around every corner so really why bother trying to hide? Jude will know I got home early, he'll pound me with questions and I'll end up losing a meal I already lost.

In my room, I yank my multiple layers off in exchange for a tee-shirt.

"_I've never seen you in anything but a hoodie…"_

Really? Is it really necessary to hear the old geezer even when he's not here? I pound my head furiously for replaying his words.

My eyes move down, inch by inch, going over every remnant of the life I've led. My arms… They were the first things I lost, in a sense. Cigarette burns, hands that held on too tightly, bruises, you name it. I didn't use to mind going around in public like this, but eventually the looks I got started to bother me.

When did I start trying so hard to hide my past? It seems like every word out of my mouth these days is simply denying that anything is wrong. Really, it'd be simple to escape this place.

Well, there's nothing simple about anything. Tattling on this guy will result in being moved to a new home. After coming so far, I really don't want to restart all over again.

So that's it. No matter what happens, there's no way I'm gonna destroy what little stability I've found.

As though mocking me, the walls of my bedroom shake as the door is hurriedly opened. Looking around in surprise, my eyes meet that of a maid, who anxiously beckons me to come over, babbling non-stop.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't think he would be s-so upset… Please hurry up, Mr. Heartfilia wants to see you in his office!"

No matter what.

Masking my gut-wrenching fear with a steely glare, I force my legs, which have gone stiff, to move forward.

Before exiting the room, however, I manage to snag my headphones off the bedside table as the maid drags me out the door. With a few swift, experienced motions, I cover my ears and turn on the music.

Just like the old days.

* * *

**Please leave a comment!**

**God Bless :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**I wish I had an excuse other than the usual "my life is a mess right now", but that's the honest-to-goodness truth, haha. I'm really sorry! You might have to make sure you don't miss anything by re-reading the last chapter or something. **

**Okay so I have a request for all of you readers. I would love it so much if you would take the time to tell me in a review or PM at least one thing that you do or don't like about either my writing or this story in general. PLeeeaaaase I'm trying to improve my writing but I need your help! Critique is more helpful than you know!**

**You should listen to Blue Light of the Flame by Dar Williams**

* * *

"Stop trembling like a coward. There's no reason to be scared."

Those words might be more comforting if they weren't being yelled at me from across the room. By a man known to be violent, no less. So no, my body is not going to stop shaking.

After a few tense minutes of silence, Jude takes a few steps forward. Closer, closer... No! Don't come near me!

Eventually he's close enough that I can clearly see the anger in his eyes. But what did I do? He rips the headphones from my head, tossing them onto the floor which drags my phone out of my pocket as well.

"I have given you chance after chance," he rumbles. "You could have done what I asked." They'd better not find my body in a dumpster.

"You could have accepted my generosity!" I flinch in surprise at the sudden shout.

Jude runs a hand through his ugly excuse for hair. "You... You will never be anything more than the streetrat I brought into my home."

Gotta stay calm, calm... "What the hell are you talking about, old man? What'd I do, huh?"

"For the love of God, at least _pretend _you understand how much depends on this!" The monster practically growls, going back to his desk with a heavy frown on his face. His finger lands on a stack of papers.

"Detention." One step towards me.

"Failing classes."Two hands clenched into fists.

"Refusing to turn in homework."

A lump makes it's way into my throat.

"Do you still not know what I'm talking about?!" Jude booms and slams his fist on the wall I forgot was behind me, sending a picture clattering against the plaster.

I don't wanna do this anymore. I quit, okay?! No more! I'll leave, go to a new home, whatever!

"I am _beyond _tired of your antics. Were you born without a brain? No, perhaps it was your mother's fault. Genetics would explain your complete lack of manners and education."

Just make the pain stop!

"My mother has nothing to do with this, got it?! So shut the hell up!"

No, I didn't mean it! Don't look at me like that!

Just make the pain stop... Make it stop...

* * *

"No, I just found her like this..." "...Didn't hear her scream..."

"Hurry."

My head is spinning out of control. Where am I? Is this Heaven?

"She's waking up."

Groaning, I struggle to keep my eyes open. At first everything is too blurry to make things out, but gradually familiar faces appear. Employees at the mansion.

The mansion. Jude.

"Lucy, can you hear me?"

"You freaking... moron. How would I answer if I couldn't?" My voice is really raspy for some reason.

"She's gonna be alright."

The one speaking, a lady with really long blue hair, snaps her fingers in my face, making me flinch instinctively.

"Listen up, kid. I need you to tell me what happened."

I blink slowly, taking in my surroundings. A desk, pencils on the floor, a broken painting.

This is Jude's office. But how did I end up in here?

Another maid I hadn't noticed walks over with a large bandage for some reason. My eyes follow her movements until she places is on my arm.

Then it all comes back.

* * *

"Lucy, calm down!"

Crying, screaming, it's hard to tell which I'm doing. Maybe both.

It hurts everywhere, everywhere, my whole body, my heart... How did he get to my heart? Make it stop!

And then there's his maids and servants, freaking out while I curl up in the corner, making a heck of a lot of noise. I'm aware of what I'm doing. But it's impossible to stop.

Because it hurts.

One girl, pink hair, tries getting close to me. She grabs my arm. Why? Did Jude send her to finish me off? She works for him, right?

Upon realizing this, I kick her away from me, glaring through my tears. "I'll freaking kill you!"

"Miss Lucy, if Mister Heartfilia comes back to this, he's going to be upset!" She says, obviously trying hard to keep her voice steady.

"Yeah? Will he be upset enough to do _this_? !" I scream, pulling back my hair to expose the bloody patch of skin above my right eye. "Huh? Are you afraid he'll make you his new punching bag?"

The blue-haired lady walks over to us and nudges the other girl out of the way. "It's understandable that you are upset, but don't take it out on us. Can you not see that we're trying to help?"

There's a taste of iron in my mouth. Spitting out a bit of blood, I snort angrily and get to my feet, heading for the door on two wobbly legs.

"Don't worry, you've done enough. Probably told him everything I was and wasn't doing in school, right? But it's okay, it's just your job! Your sick, twisted job!"

"Lucy! Put the lamp down!"

I hesitantly look down at my hands, and a jolt runs down my spine when I see the small lamp tightly clenched in my fists.

"Listen," It's the maid with the blue hair again, she seems to be in charge here. "You're in pretty bad shape, and we can take care of you."

My hand tightens around the lamp.

"But we can't help you if you prove yourself to be a danger to anyone, understand? Don't make things harder for yourself."

I rub the last tears from my eyes with a sniff. "Go to hell."

* * *

"One two three four..."

The whole room is spinning, making my head hurt. Unable to keep my balance, I fall to the floor and close my eyes in an attempt to stop the dizzying sensation.

"One two three four..." the numbers rapidly spill from my mouth. I don't know why. It might be calming me down, but maybe I'm just going insane.

"Wh-what's going on?" My voice is hoarse. Why? What happened? It's hard to think straight while my head is spinning.

Someone is walking over to me, every footstep booming like thunder.

Suddenly the pounding stops, and my head is lifted up. I didn't know my head was on the floor. Wait, don't touch me!

Everything goes by so quickly that I'm not even sure it's really happening. A door, coming closer and closer to me. I must be flying, because my legs aren't moving. Didn't know I could do that.

Pink, blue... Like some sort of memory. Flowers? No, that's hair. Those are people, and they're looking at me... Spinning, everything is spinning again.

This is good. I'm finally flying away from here. Wherever this is, my head is telling me I didn't like it here.

Then I see a car. Something brushes my skin and for some reason I hate it, so I cry.

I cry and cry, even though my head is too tired to tell me why.

Instead of spinning, now I'm moving, the car is moving, and my eyes still refuse to make sense of what they're seeing.

But it's okay, because now I'm going to sleep.

* * *

The car jolts to a stop, and my head is finally clear. I remember everything; the terror when each blow was about to come, the disgust Jude displayed towards me, the guilt when I saw the blood on the maid I hit...

Someone tapping my shoulder draws my attention back to the present and suddenly I remember the other person in the car. Slowly my head turns to the side.

Jude grins at me with a terrifying look in his eyes.

* * *

I wake up screaming, that image of Jude still etched in my mind. There are no words to describe the pure terror that coursed through my body at that moment.

"Hey, hey, calm down!"

"Don't... touch me!" Now my voice is almost gone. I can barely understand my own words.

"I'm not gonna hurt you."

That voice.. I know who it belongs to. Clenching my fists with fear still racing through my heart, I use all my strength to will my eyes to open. In one quick movement I glance to the left.

"You."

Gildarts sighs and his shoulders noticeably relax. "Yeah, kiddo, it's me."

My shoulders are still shaking as though I just cried for a long time. Coughing, I close my eyes wearily. It's too much work to ask where we are, or what I'm even doing with him.

"Come on kid, let's get you fixed up. It's been a long day, huh?"

I chuckle, although it's barely audible. "You have no idea."

He makes no sign that he heard me, but instead I hear him open the door. The car bounces when he gets out.

It feels like it's been hours since he left. Did he seriously just leave me here alone? Ah well, it's not too surprising.

But about him, what the hell was he doing at the house? I'm fairly certain it was him carrying me out to his car, even though at the time I thought I was flying. And why did the people there just let me leave? I nearly bludgeoned someone to death. Plus, Jude is gonna be pissed when he finds out I'm gone.

Or maybe he'll be relieved. After all, he tried to kill me. There are so many questions and I don't even know who to ask.

I don't know. The whole day has been so crazy that it might have just been an illusion. After coming to that decision, my mind slowly drifts back into the world of sleep.

* * *

When I wake up this time, it's to find that I'm no longer in a car. Instead of a leather seat, now there's a bed beneath me.

Groaning, I blink away the blurriness and sit up cautiously, so as not to strain my battered body.

The room I'm in is rather small and simple. Beige walls, a white dresser and bedside table, and a vase of lilacs.

It kind of reminds me of the hospital room I was in back when all this started. Before I moved into the mansion.

Just when I'm on the verge of getting really emotional, the door opens. In walks Levy.

And that was the sound of my jaw hitting the floor. What the hell?

Blue hair shoved behind a headband, about as tall as a ten year old, and an orange tee-shirt; her signature color. That's definitely Levy.

Her eyes are wide with something that can only be perceived as concern, and she nervously takes another step into the room. "Er... Hey."

Shifting my gaze from her to the rising sun visible through the window, my mind works as hard as it can to figure this out. Gildarts took me from the mansion to _here_? Is this Levy's home?

"Um... Breakfast is ready. Mom says that you've gotta come out and eat."

The sun reflecting off of the snow makes me squint. It's already morning; he'd be gone by now.

I didn't get to talk to him.

"W-well that's all. C'mout quickly, okay?"

As soon as the door closes, a sigh escapes me.

There's no telling what I'd say to him anyways. Thanking people isn't first nature for me.

Heaving a second sigh, I get to my feet and examine yesterday's wounds. Looks like they patched me up pretty well, considering the fact that I was apparently passed out.

My stomach decides to let me know it's empty by growling like a bear, and I wince. That's probably what hurts the most right now, funnily enough.

Step by careful step, I make my way out the door and down the narrow hallway, which eventually leads into a rather large kitchen that has a mouth-watering smell in the air. Whatever it is, it's gotta taste good.

Seated at the table by the window are two people. One I recognize, the other I've never seen before.

Gesturing to the woman across from her, Levy smiles at me. "This is my mom."

The lady smiles at me as well and offers me a seat by pulling out the chair that's in-between her and Levy. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Lucy. You can call me Mrs. McGarden, mom, just about anything you'd like, got it?"

Giving a small nod, I sit down in the vacant chair. The tantalizing smell seems to have come from the large bowls of oatmeal in front of each of us.

Oh my freaking gosh, it's been way too long since my last home cooked meal. _Way _too long.

"Thanks for the food, amen." Levy rattles off before picking up her spoon and shoveling food into her mouth so quickly that I can't do anything but stare at her.

"Ow!" She exclaims the inevitable, finally noticing the oatmeal is literally steaming. As she proceeds to gulp down a glass of orange juice, I use my own spoon to carefully eat my food.

For a few minutes we eat in silence, until Mrs. McGarden breaks it. "So, Lucy. Mr. Clive tells me that you've been at Fairy Tail High for nearly six months. What do you think so far?"

I blink at her in confusion. Before she can question my stupidity, Levy cuts in. "She means Gildarts."

Oh. Shrugging, I tap my spoon against my bowl absent-mindedly. "It's fine."

But she presses further. "Have you made any friends other than Levy?"

Another shrug.

"Levy tells me that you've gone to the movies a few times with her and her friends. Do you get along with them?" Man this lady is relentless.

"Yeah, sure." I reply curtly, hoping she'll get the hint.

I'm not so blind as to notice the look her and her daughter share. For once I'm not trying to be rude; she is letting me stay here after all. But I'm really not in the mood to talk about school, or anything really. School seems to far away right now that it's like it's someone else's life.

The woman pats my hand, forcing me to hold back a snarl. "It can be hard to move to a new school, but you've got a good friend in Levy and the others."

I quickly start eating again before she can ask me something else.

* * *

After breakfast Levy shows me to her room. It looks about the same size as the one I was in, but other than that they're total opposites.

"You like to read?"

She laughs, hands clasped behind her back and bouncing from one foot to the other. "A little, yeah."

Carefully stepping around the books all over the floor, I move some from the bed and sit down cross-legged. Levy sits beside me and I instinctively slide further away.

"Okay, I put up with your mom's questions, so it's time you answered mine."

The light atmosphere immediately darkens. Her smile fading, Levy stares at a book that suddenly seems really interesting.

"First of all, how much do you know?" I question, not letting my eyes leave her.

Her knee bounces up and down relentlessly. My eyes narrow."Tell me!"

Sighing exasperatedly, the girl in question runs a hand through her striking blue hair. "Does it matter?"

Laughing with absolutely no humor, I lift my head and stare blankly at the ceiling. "You... Need to tell me everything you know. Whatever Gildarts told you, I need to know."

Levy finally looks at me and I lower my head to meet her eyes. "Look," she starts, "all he told me is that you need a place to stay for a few days." When she sees the disbelief that's clearly etched on my face she continues.

"Lucy, you're wearing a tee-shirt. I saw everything. Not to mention I had to bandage the new stuff. Anyone could tell that someone's hurting you."

Fuming, I slam my hand on the bed. "That freaking _douche_!"

"He didn't tell me anything! I told you, when you're not wearing all those hoodies it's clear as day what's going on!"

That doesn't help to calm my anger. She knows, which means he knows. "Get me a phone and the geezer's number. Can you do that for me?"

Levy sighs, but nods. "Yeah, but he's probably in class. It's almost ten."

My face twists with confusion. "Wait a minute, why aren't you at school? It's not a weekend, is it?"

"I just said he was probably in class so no, it's not a weekend. Gildarts told me to stay home today."

Normally it wouldn't matter to me but I know that Levy actually enjoys school. "Oh."

Shaking her head, Levy gives a half-smile. "Don't worry about it. I would have stayed home anyways."

After she leaves, I groan in frustration. It doesn't make any sense. What was he doing at my house yesterday? And if he knows about the abuse, why aren't I in custody or the hospital or something? That's what happened whenever my previous guardians were arrested.

Well whatever happened yesterday, one thing's certain; I'm gonna have to say goodbye. For the first time, I've actually got something to lose. Despite all my efforts, I'm losing the only people I've ever considered friends.

Levy walks back in with a phone and a piece of paper. "I got his number from my mom." She says after handing me both.

Nodding thanks, I glance from her to the door then back at her. She gets the message luckily and leaves me to talk privately.

My fingers tremble a little as I dial the number written down in perfect writing, as expected of Levy. What if he's mad at me for so obviously lying all this time? I know he didn't buy any of what I said when asked about my personal life.

The phone rings for what seems like forever as I press it against my ear. Is he gonna pick up?

Click. " _How is she?" _His voice almost sounds frantic. It's a little nice to know he's worried.

"I'm pissed." That's right. I've gotta find out what he knows.

"_Well at least I know you're not dead." _

"Speaking of what you know..." I trail off. He'll get the point.

He doesn't say anything for long enough that I wonder if he really did get it. Then I hear him let out a long, weary sigh. "Tomorrow's Saturday. I'll come over then and tell you everything."

"Fine. See you."

I end the call with my heart racing. My throat did the same thing it does when I'm about to cry for some reason. Speaking of which, didn't I cry a whole lot when he drove me here?

I almost feel sorry for him, having to put up with my wreck of a life, but it's not like anyone forced him to care so much.

After a few minutes someone knocks on the door. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah."

Levy walks in with an attitude almost the total opposite of earlier. Grinning from ear to ear, I can almost _feel _her excitement.

"When's the last time you went shopping?"

* * *

We spent all of yesterday just lazing around. Levy tried to teach me how to read better, although I'll admit I'm not a very good student. But today we're going shopping.

Waving goodbye, Mrs. McGarden drives away after dropping us off to get her hair trimmed. I was surprised to see that her hair's a normal brown, and it looks like she gets it cut normally as well. Everyone here seems to have something odd going on with their hair.

Levy nudges me and I follow her gaze, which leads to the tall building in front of us.

"This is, hands down, the _biggest _clothing store in Magnolia. You ever been here?"

I shake my head dumbly. "I get my clothes retail."

Practically jumping with glee, my companion pulls me into the store. Lately my attitude towards nice-looking clothes has shifted enough that I'm a little excited.

According to Levy, Gildarts handed her a credit card and told her it was retribution and that I would understand. Hell yeah I understand.

Jude's house-keeper people are trying to get something from me. Forgiveness, silence, whatever.

I'm not giving them anything, but I sure as hell don't mind a bunch of money.

"It's a school day, so normally it's _way _more crowded than this." Levy informs me, although her level of awe makes it seem like this is her first time in here as well.

It's understandable, though. Just what we've seen after a few minutes inside is enough to knock me senseless. My experience with shopping is limited to going through a dozen or so racks of used clothes. Here, it seems like an entire corner is devoted to one color of shirts.

We decide to start with the youth section, although Levy is quick to point out that most of it probably won't fit her. I don't even know for sure what size _I _am in anything.

My eyes widen when I see their selection of hoodies. I automatically head straight for those, but Levy grabs my arm and drags me in the direction of the dresses.

"No way in hell!"

"You've probably never even _worn _one before, knowing you." Levy argues, barely even looking as she pulls one of the wretched things off of a rack and shoves it towards me. "Put it on."

Somehow I find myself in a dressing room, holding the dress in my hands. Outside I can hear Levy tapping her foot. "You'd better show it to me, too!"

With jerky movements, I make my arms, which seem to have stiffened, pull off the jacket Levy lent me, followed by my slightly bloody tee-shirt.

I slip the dress over my head as quickly as possible, making sure that I don't look in the mirror before also removing my jeans and then unlocking the door and stepping into the waiting room. I didn't bother to see what it looks like, aside from the fact that it's got spaghetti straps.

I can't translate the face she makes when she see me. Surprise, maybe? Suddenly she pulls me into a hug, embracing me with more strength then I thought her little body had.

"You're beautiful!" She squeals under her breath, finally letting me go. Unnerved, I make haste to slip back into the stall and change into my normal clothes, being careful not to accidentally glance at the mirror.

Once out again, I give a small cough. "How about you find clothes now?"

Levy gives me an awed looked again. "Lucy, I say this with utmost sincerity; you are one of the most beautiful girls I know. Like seriously, you're pretty already but with the right outfit... Wow!"

Avoiding her eyes, I shrug uncomfortably. "Let's just go." Such compliments are really weird to hear, even though I know they're meant well.

Levy smiles and leads the way to the children's section. I just hope she didn't notice my flushed cheeks.

* * *

We finally tear ourselves away from the store a few hours later. Well, six is more accurate. But we did go out to lunch as well.

When Mrs. McGarden's car pulls up to the entrance, a Chevy Sedan as Levy proudly pointed out, my feet are so tired they feel like they're about to fall off.

Once we're buckled, the woman glances back at me and chuckles. "Nothing like shopping all day after getting beat up."

I give a half-hearted smile but raise a brow at Levy, who shrugs. Of course her mom would know I'm beat up, but to mention it so casually...

As we pull into the driveway, I'm surprised to see another car parked there. A black SUV, specifically.

Wait, that's Gildarts' car! Abandoning my bags, I dash inside and burst into the sitting room where I find my teacher sitting on the couch watching something on the tv.

He looks up after a second, showing me the more serious side of himself that I'm still not used to.

"You want to know what happened, correct?"

* * *

**Thanks for reading! God Bless! :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**I've had an interesting past year. Sorry you guys had to wait so long**

**Read the last chapter... Just read it, you probably forgot everything... Maybe you should just re-read the whole story.**

**The song I've been listening to for the past year: Remember by Dear Cloud**

* * *

_Abandoning my bags, I dash inside and burst into the sitting room where I find my teacher sitting on the couch watching something on the tv._

_He looks up after a second, showing me the more serious side of himself that I'm still not used to._

"_You want to know what happened, correct?"_

* * *

Within a split second, the past two days reveal themselves to be nothing but a temporary get-away.

Suddenly, without any warning, I'm brought back to reality.

Gildarts is still looking at me with that steady gaze, and it feels like a year before I'm able to reply.

"Please_…_"

I manage to sit myself down on the armchair next to his choice of seat, keeping my eyes on him at all times. As though breaking eye contact will somehow turn all of this into a dream. Because even though the past two days have been… unimaginable… I need the truth.

Student and teacher, we sit, neither speaking. It's not until the sound of Levy bursting through the front door breaks through the silence that he speaks.

"It's good to see you again, kid."

I've done enough crying but there's already a lump forming, just from the sound of that raspy voice. "Yeah. I know."

No more words are needed as a greeting. Getting straight to the point, Gildart's lips pull into a half-smile. "Why don't you start by telling me what you remember, okay?"

My eyes finally drift from his, latching onto the arm of the couch. I thought it would be easy to recall what happened, but know that I actually try it's really only one part that's clear as daylight. I can remember every single thing Jude said to me that night, and every second of pure terror. Everything else is a blur, quite literally because I remember a lot of crying.

"I got home from school. Jude found out about my grades, detention et cetera... "

Gildarts waits for me to swallow the lump in my throat, patient as ever, something I can appreciate.

"He… well y'know. Don't need to go into the details. Mm… I remember something about the maids, think I hit one or something…" My voice gets quieter as I begrudgingly recall that particular event.

"In case you were wondering, she's doing alright," he interrupts in a gentle voice. "I checked on her in the hospital and she said to tell you not to worry."

"I wasn't worried."

He chuckles. "Go on, softie."

"After that? Uh not real clear. You carried me out to your car, didn't you? Then I'm assuming brought me here?"

Gildarts smiles again.

Silence, only this time it just seems like he's trying to find the right words

Suddenly…

"Blue, and pink. I remember seeing blue and pink."

Gildarts doesn't reply to my sudden exclamation, instead opting to glance behind me where the doorway is.

"It's salmon, and you darn well know it," comes a familiar voice.

* * *

I can hardly be surprised by Natsu's appearance at this point. My eyes follow him as he takes a seat next to Gildarts on the couch, rubbing his hands on his pants. Apparently he just came from the bathroom.

It's hard to explain, but there's a calming effect in his presence. He's hardly his normal self right now, immediately obvious because he hasn't smiled once yet, but there's something in his eyes that makes a person feel like everything will be over with a good laugh.

"Long time no see, flunkie."

His relaxed greeting should irritate me but it doesn't. I'm just glad to see him. No excuses, nothing but the pure truth. I'm glad to see him. Is this what friendship it? I don't remember feeling quite this way about Levy, despite my affection for her.

"Same, fish head. But what are you doing here?"

Natsu shares a look with Gildarts and whispers something to him. The latter shakes his head then speaks.

"You remembered almost everything, Lucy, except that this guy was with me the whole time."

I can't help my lips from parting, although nothing comes out.

He smiles, although his eyebrows are pinched together in a pitying expression. "I was bringing him to meet up with the usual group at the theater. You left your bag in my car so I was just going to drop it off. Natsu is the one who first noticed something wrong, so you have him to thank."

Natsu doesn't say anything but he must feel as uncomfortable as I do, the way he's now avoiding my eyes. That's saying something because I've never seen him… I don't know. Uncomfortable.

"The house was a mess once we finally forced our way inside. Nobody would tell us what happened but we found your room. I brought you to the car while Natsu argued with a maid, Aquarius I believe."

"I don't mean to interrupt but how did she let you leave with me? If Jude knows I'm gone he'll wreak havoc…"

"She understood what was going on," he said with a hint of a smile on his lips. "Your foster father was already gone so she made plans for him to simply go straight to an overseas business trip from wherever he was."

So he's coming back. And when he does, I'll have to be there. As though I never left.

There must be more to say after that, but Gildart's phone rings and he doesn't hesitate to answer it, meaning it's more important than this. I try not to feel resentful as he walks out of the room.

Now there's just two in the room. I keep my eyes on the floor in front of me. It's hard enough dealing with the fact that Gildarts saw me at my weakest moment, but now…

I'm just confused. I was finally starting to feel like… maybe, just maybe, I could belong somewhere. My classmates aren't half bad. Nice enough that instead of grudgingly going along with them by force, I find myself actually _wanting_ to spend time with them.

But now one of them knows. I trust Gildarts to keep quiet, and even Levy, but this is Natsu. Probably the one with least control over his mouth. How many times has the science-witch caught him badmouthing her out loud in her own class?

It catches me by surprise when a hand is gently placed on my own. My hazel eyes snap up to meet two eyes black as charcoal.

"You'll drive a hole in the carpet the way your legs are bouncing. Why are you so nervous?"

Oh I don't know. What could possibly be making me nervous.

I bite my tongue. From this close, I can see the roots of Natsu's hair, a beautiful natural black.

"You need to get your roots dyed. The black is showing."

He chuckles, sending a breath of warm air into my face. "Thanks for the tip. Tag along and I can prove exactly what color my hair is."

"Whatever you say."

Natsu places his hand on mine for the second time, glancing at my legs which haven't ceased their rattling once since I started recalling what happened that night.

"Really though, take it easy. You're starting to make _me_ nervous."

"Then look away," I reply, well aware my limbs will continue to bounce no matter how hard I try to stop them.

The salmon-haired boy looks me in the eye and grins. "I can't."

* * *

By the time Gildarts is done with his phone call it's dinner time. Natsu has been playing on his phone while I help Levy put away the clothes we bought. Poor kid.

A call from Mrs. McGarden practically has him flying as she announces that dinner is ready, followed by us girls.

Dinner is a quick affair. Apparently Gildarts is in the middle of making a deal with Aquarius and has to drop Natsu off before heading over to the mansion. I nearly got on my knees begging for details but he remains tight-lipped. Git.

Before walking out the door, said teacher stops and smiles at me. "I've got your back, kid. Don't worry."

After sending the two of them off and saying goodnight to Levy and her mom, it's finally time for me to think to myself. I sit on my bed and stare out the window.

I say think, but really it's just a welcomed break from the past few hours of stress. Normally right now my head would be going crazy trying to figure out what's going on, what to do, cursing people, that kind of thing.

But right now there's this strange feeling that I can trust Gildarts to come up with something.

Right now I'm just relieved Natsu and Levy still want to be friends, despite knowing the truth.

Right now is the most peaceful moment I've seen in years. Funny how that works.

* * *

**I know it's short but I'm hoping to feel up to posting regularly again**

**God bless**


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